Our company history

Engineering services for underground storages

In 2001 the two competencies of storage operation and engineering services were merged under one umbrella - the birth of the Erdgasspeicher Kalle GmbH in its present form as an engineering service company in Freiberg and at Kalle gas storage facility. From then on, the entire range of planning, construction and operation of underground storage facilities was provided from a single source. The activities at the Group's own natural gas storage facilities, such as Staßfurt and Kalle, at Thyssengas storage facilities Epe and Xanten (later RWE) as well as first projects for third companies in Germany and abroad, characterised the years of ESK. 

Rise to become an established engineering service provider

At the beginning of the 2010, RWE’s gas storage reorganisation resulted again in the separation of storage facilities/operations and engineering services. In 2011 Erdgasspeicher Kalle GmbH was renamed in ESK GmbH. 

The proportion of customer projects outside the Group continued to increase and ESK responded to this trend by hiring additional engineers and scientists. Compared to 2001, the number of employees almost doubled in 2010.

Expansion of the range of services

In those years, the market became more difficult for storage operators and investments were heavily weighed up. However, ESK was able to counteract this trend thanks to its good project diversity at home and abroad.  

Over the years, ESK developed further services and, for example, with its expertise was also an important force in the market area conversion from low calorific to high calorific gas. The market area conversion is one of the largest German infrastructure projects in the gas industry for grid operators.

Focussing on project management and market area conversion

With expertise from the natural gas industry and project management, the services for grid operators were launched in 2015. To date, ESK is one of the leading providers of technical project management within the market area conversion. 

Grown for new project tasks

However, in addition to its gas expertise, ESK has also been offering in-depth electricity know-how for several years. Since 2018, the company has also been contributing the strength of its engineering tradition and expertise in managing complex projects to current industry trends. Cross-sector projects such as the planning and construction of electrolysers or broadband expansion are continuously expanding our portfolio. This trend is also reflected in the development of employee numbers which has doubled again since 2010.