Eesti Gaas, an Estonian gas and electricity trading company belonging to investment firm Infortar, intends to launch a new brand by the name of Elenger in Finland and Latvia, the company aims to increase its volume by two and a half times.
The company’s new brand targets the larger market, which will emerge when the gas markets of Finland, Latvia and Estonia are joined together next year. The company will continue operating under the current name Eesti Gaas in Estonia.
“Changes in adjacent markets will create new opportunities for us. We have already started cooperation with our clients in Latvia, and we are taking our first steps in the Finnish market, which will open at the end of the year; Lithuania is also in our sights,” the CEO of Eesti Gaas, Ants Noot, said.
Noot pointed out that the total volume of the Northern Baltic gas market is 6 bn cubic meters.
“Considering our experience and efficiency, we have set an objective to take at least a sixth of it — one billion — which marks a growth by two and a half times compared to our current volumes,” he said.
In Finland, the company aims to establish sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in ports and at sea as one of its operations.
“With the bunkering of Megastar and the construction of a new bunkering vessel, we have become the company with the biggest competence in LNG in the area,” Kalev Reiljan, member of the management board of Eesti Gaas, said.
In addition to transporting natural gas, Eesti Gaas also seeks to build and maintain gas pipelines in Finland. A subsidiary of the company is currently leading the construction of the Estonia-Finland gas interconnection Balticconnector.
The Finnish gas market will open on January 1 next year while the Latvian market opened in 2017.
Last year, Eesti Gaas carried altogether 16,000 tons of LNG. The company has bunkered the Megastar ferry on over 1,600 occasions. The Dutch shipbuilding company Damen is currently building a unique LNG bunkering ship for Eesti Gaas. The barge, which is to refuel environmentally friendly vessels in the northern and eastern reaches of the Baltic Sea, will be completed next year.
Eesti Gaas is a supplier of natural gas via pipeline, as compressed natural gas (CNG) and LNG. It also sells electricity to households and businesses and develops different energy production solutions. The company has 50,000 customers and employs a workforce of 240.
