125 Years of SUDenergie (SUDenergie)

The “125 Years of SUDenergie” research project is located at the crossroads of Luxembourgish local history and the international history of energy/gas production and distribution. It focuses on the history of the gasworks in Esch/Alzette, Differdange, and Kayl, and their connections to other communes in the Minette Region. Originating from the demand for gas street lightening, these plants were built and/or taken over by German companies around 1900, the most important player at the beginning of the 20th century being Thüringer Gasgesellschaft, and, from the 1920s until the end of the Second World War, Rheinische Energie Aktiengesellschaft (Rhenag). After the war, the company holding the Esch/Alzette and Differdange gasworks, Compagnie générale pour le gaz et l’électricité, was taken over by the communes connected to them. Beginning in the 1970s, the number of shareholders expanded, when the members of the syndicate of communes holding the Kayl plant, as well as other communes joined. Today, its shareholders are the communes of Esch/Alzette, Differdange, Pétange, Schifflange, Sanem, Käerjeng, Bettembourg, Kayl, Rumelange, Mondercange, Roeser, Reckange/Mess, Dippach, and Garnich. Meanwhile, both the Differdange and then the Esch/Alzette plants had stopped gas production. The Compagnie générale gas network was supplied with coal gas piped from abroad and, later on, imported natural gas, which added a new international dimension. More recently, Compagnie générale, which had rebranded as Sudgaz, started projects with other companies aiming at diversification. Now also involved in renewable energy production, it finally changed its name to SUDenergie. This research project faces the usual difficulties connected to the history of private companies. Since the various gasworks have passed from one owner to another, sources are scattered among various public and private archives (the latter having had no obligation to retain their files). Thus, the first and probably most strenuous task is to identify the places where documents regarding the gasworks and related companies are kept. This research discusses a number of issues that equally concern industrial and social history: What was the social impact of gas street lightening and, later, gas cooking and gas heating? How did the competition between gas and electricity evolve? What was the origin and social background of the workers at the gasworks of Esch/Alzette, Differdange, and Kayl? What role did the Luxembourgish state play in the development of the gas industry? How did Sudgaz handle liberalisation? Moreover, this research delves into the complex history of the Compagnie générale during the Second World War, when Rhenag attempted to establish a gas, electricity, and water cartel in German-occupied Luxembourg. The results of the research project will be showcased on a dedicated website and, later, in an academic publication.