Elering

{{Infobox company

| name = Elering AS

| logo = Elering logo.svg

| caption =

| type = State-owned company

| fate =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| foundation = {{start date|1998|11|01}}

| founder = Eesti Energia

| defunct =

| location_city = Tallinn

| location_country = Estonia

| location =

| locations =

| area_served = Estonia

| key_people = Kalle Kilk (Chairman of the Board)

| industry = Electricity

| production =

| services = Electric power transmission
Natural gas transmission

| revenue = €129.23 million (2014){{cite web |url=http://majandus24.postimees.ee/3380169/eesti-100-suurima-ettevotte-edetabel-peegeldab-majanduse-seisakut|title=100 Eesti suurimat ettevõtet|language=Estonian |publisher=Postimees}}

| operating_income =

| net_income = €40.73 million (2014)

| assets =

| equity =

| owner = Government of Estonia

| num_employees =

| parent =

| divisions =

| subsid =

| homepage = {{url|www.elering.ee}}

| footnotes =

| intl =

}}

Elering AS (former name: OÜ Põhivõrk) is a national transmission system operator for electricity and natural gas with headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia. The managing director of Elering is Taavi Veskimägi.

{{cite news

| url= http://bbn.ee/article/2009/09/04/Taavi_Veskimagi_leaves_party_and_politics

| title= Taavi Veskimägi leaves party and politics

| agency = Baltic Business News

| first = Marge | last = Tubalkain-Trell

| date=2009-09-04

| accessdate=2010-02-06}}

History

Elering was established on 1 November 1998 under the name of Põhivõrk as an operating unit of the Estonian national power company Eesti Energia. On 1 April 2004, it became a private limited company, OÜ Põhivõrk, as a subsidiary of Eesti Energia. On 10 June 2009, the company changed its name to Elering. To implement the EU 3rd energy package, the Government of Estonia decided on 28 August 2009 to go for an ownership unbundling and to buy out Elering from Eesti Energia.

{{cite news

| url= http://bbn.ee/article/2009/08/28/Estonia_to_acquire_power-grid_operator_from_Eesti_Energia

| title= Estonia to acquire power-grid operator from Eesti Energia

| agency = Baltic Business News

| first = Marge | last = Tubalkain-Trell

| date=2009-08-28

| accessdate=2010-02-06

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720124832/http://bbn.ee/article/2009/08/28/Estonia_to_acquire_power-grid_operator_from_Eesti_Energia

| archive-date = 2011-07-20

|url-status = dead}}

The transaction was concluded on 28 January 2010.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=22992

| title= Estonian Elering officially have changed owners

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| first = Juhan | last = Tere

| date=2010-01-28

| accessdate=2010-02-06}}

On 2 February 2010, Elering signed an agreement with Nord Pool Spot to create the Nord Pool Spot Estlink price area, starting from 1 April 2010.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=23171

| title= Elering and Nord Pool Spot conclude a cooperation agreement

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| first = Juhan | last = Tere

| date=2010-02-02

| accessdate=2010-02-06}}

On 25 February 2011, Elering was transformed to a public limited company, AS Elering.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=37923

| title= Elering becomes a public limited company

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| first = Juhan | last = Tere

| date=2011-03-02

| accessdate=2011-03-09}}

In November 2014, Elering entered the natural gas transmission market by acquiring a majority stake in the holding company AS Võrguteenus Valdus, an owner of EG Võrguteenus (later renamed: Elering Gaas).

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=98749

| title= Fortum sells its stake in the gas grid to Elering

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date=2014-11-10

| accessdate=2015-07-06}}

EG Võrguteenus was established in 2005 as a subsidiary of Eesti Gaas. Originally it operated both—a transmission network and a distribution network—but in 2013 the distribution network was separated from the company. In November 2013, to implement the EU 3rd energy package EG Võrguteenus was separated from Eesti Gaas.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=83860

| title = EG Vorguteenused was separated from Eesti Gaas

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date = 2013-11-20

| accessdate = 2016-02-27}}

In June 2015, Elering acquired the stake which was owned by Gazprom, and in September 2015, Elering acquired the stake which was owned by Itera Latvija in AS Võrguteenus Valdus shares.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=107564

| title= Elering acquires Gazprom's 37% stake in Estonian gas transmission network

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date=2015-06-19

| accessdate=2015-07-06}}

{{cite news

| url = http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=111021

| title = Elering bought Itera Latvija's 10% stake

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date=2015-09-25

| accessdate=2015-11-24}}

In December 2015, after acquiring shares owned by minority shareholders of AS Võrguteenus Valdus Elering decided to merge Elering Gas and Võrguteenus Valdus into Elering.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=114410

| title = TSO Elering signs merger with subsidiaries

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date=2015-12-16

| accessdate=2016-02-27}}

On 24 May 2019, Elering along with Latvian and Lithuanian transmission system operators Augstsprieguma tīkls and Litgrid signed an agreement to join the synchronous electricity grid of Continental Europe.

{{cite news

| url = https://news.err.ee/945389/network-operator-elering-signs-agreement-to-join-continental-europe-grid

| title = Network operator Elering signs agreement to join Continental Europe grid

| work = ERR

| date=2019-05-24

| accessdate=2019-06-17}}

In 2020, the company will pay dividends of 25.6 million euros.{{Cite web |last=ERR |date=2020-06-18 |title=Riigi äriühingud maksavad eelarvesse 121,6 miljonit eurot dividende |url=https://www.err.ee/1103482/riigi-ariuhingud-maksavad-eelarvesse-121-6-miljonit-eurot-dividende |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=ERR |language=et}}

Electricity market

Elering is an operator of the Estonian electricity transmission grid, which is synchronized with BRELL, a part of the unified electricity system of Russia. Together with Latvian and Lithuanian transmission system operators Augstsprieguma tīkls and Litgrid, Elering is planning to move the Baltic electricity grid from BRELL to the synchronous electricity grid of Continental Europe by 2025.

Together with the transmission system operator of Finland, Fingrid, Elering is preparing the construction of the Estlink-2 cable between Estonia and Finland.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=23223

| title= Elering is considering a bonds issue to finance Estlink 2

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| first = Juhan | last = Tere

| date=2010-02-03

| accessdate=2010-02-06}}

Elering also operates interconnections between Estonia and Latvia, between Estonia and Russia, and Estlink interconnections between Estonia and Finland.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Elering is a member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

{{cite web

|url = http://www.entsoe.eu/index.php?id=15

|title = ENTSO-E Member Companies

|publisher = European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity

|accessdate = 2010-02-06

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720000955/https://www.entsoe.eu/index.php?id=15

|archivedate = 2011-07-20

}}

Natural gas market

Elering is the natural gas transmission system operator of Estonia. Together with Finnish state-owned company Baltic Connector OY, Elering is developing the undersea gas pipeline Balticconnector between Estonia and Finland.

{{cite news

| url= http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/energy/?doc=111686

| title= Elering with its Finnish partner submits grant application to EU Commission

| newspaper = The Baltic Course

| date=2015-10-15

| accessdate=2015-11-24}}