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Our history

180 years in the energy sector

How have we evolved to the present day?

In 2023, we commemorated our 180 years of history, in addition to 5 years of the Naturgy brand and the Nedgia brand.

It was a very special moment to feel the power of the energy that unites all of us who are part of this great company and drives us every day to continue transforming.
 
 

The development of natural gas consumption in the 21st century

Final natural gas consumption rose sharply until the crisis of 2008-2009 due to the increasing use of gas in industrial processes. This went hand in hand with a gradual increase in domestic use and, beginning in 2002, the installation of combined-cycle power plants that use natural gas as a fuel to generate electricity. Natural gas combined-cycle power plants bring increased performance, reducing costs and CO, CO2 and NOx emissions, and practically eliminating the emission of particles and sulphur derivatives.

2018, an iconic year for the company

In 2018, coinciding with the 175th anniversary of the group, one of the most significant changes in our history took place: the switchover from Gas Natural Fenosa to Naturgy.

Our new brand is international, adapted to suit all global markets and is focused on innovation, digitalisation, simplicity and globality.
Some interesting information

Nedgia, a brand for the gas distribution business in Spain

Nedgia was also launched in 2018 as the new brand for all gas distribution activity by the Naturgy group in Spain , marking the beginning of a new era focused on business growth and transformation to bring about added well-being.
NEDGIA combines two concepts that are fundamental for the company: the innovation that comes hand in hand with the experience and solvency gained from being a part of the Naturgy energy group and the development of natural gas expansion throughout Spain over the last 25 years.
Following the launch of the new brand, the different companies that distribute gas have kept the regional and historic names of the territories in which they operate, while incorporating Nedgia as part of their new name. This represents the globality of distributed power and the immense network used to distribute it efficiently and easily, and is also associated with the energy context, development and connections.
 
 

Other iconic dates

2023 We continue to work for a more sustainable present and future
Since 2021, Nedgia has been injecting renewable gas into our gas distribution networks from 6 biomethane production plants in Spain. Our main goal is to continue creating value through our gas infrastructure and transporting renewable gases through it, contributing to a fair and sustainable energy transition.
2004 Integrating renewable energy into the energy mix
Commencement of wind renewable energy activities, starting electricity production operations to harness the power of the wind, in the corresponding wind farms.
1998 Deregulation and internalisation
In 1998, the process to deregulate the gas sector in Spain began with the publication of the Hydrocarbons Act. This act forced the separation of transport networks and the role of System Technical Manager from distribution networks and commercialisation.
1992 We helped light the Olympic cauldron at the Barcelona ’92 Olympics.
The collaboration with the Barcelona Olympics included the stage design that utilised gas for its operation, such as the Olympic torch and the cauldron at the Montjuïc stadium. The torch was created by André Ricard, but the design of its functionality was carried out by the technicians of Naturgy. As for the Olympic cauldron, designed by Pep Sant and Ramon Bigas, the idea was conceived to light it during the opening ceremony of the games with an ignited arrow that would pass over the installation. Here, Naturgy technicians stepped in again, designing a foolproof system. It was an all-round success.
1996 International gas transportation activities begin
Between 1985 and 1993, gas supply came mainly from LNG (liquefied natural gas). In 1993, the first international connection of the Spanish gas system (in Larrau, France) came into operation and, in 1996, the Maghreb-Europe pipeline was officially opened. This pipeline runs from the deposit in Algeria, through Morocco (transit country) and connecting with mainland Spain in Tarifa.
1991 Integration of the Spanish gas sector
Thanks to the new situation in the Spanish gas sector (excellent possibilities for growth and development), two important shareholders joined the others with a stake in Catalana de Gas: La Caixa and Repsol.

With the support of these two shareholders a new business project was rolled out involving the integration of the gas distribution sector in Spain (with the merger of Catalana de Gas, Gas Madrid and Repsol Butano's piped gas shares).

Consequently, a new company was set up in 1992: Gas Natural SDG, S.A. In the same year, the company began a process of international expansion in Latin America, beginning with Argentina and continuing in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico in subsequent years.
1985 Memorandum of Understanding for the development of gas in Spain
This protocol, signed between the Ministry of Industry and Energy (MINER) and the main natural gas distributors and suppliers, led to the start of a long-term expansion plan that meant greater investment and an increase in both distributors and customers. Thanks to this, the sector in Spain began quickly to make up for its historical backwardness in relation to Europe.

In 1987 Catalana de Gas y Electricidad changed its name to Catalana de Gas, S.A. after selling its last conventional electricity shares.

In 1990, the process of switching from city gas to natural gas in Barcelona (begun in 1985) was completed with the closure of the last functioning gas plant in the city, in Sant Martí de Provençals.
1972 The beginnings of gas

Notable in the early years of gas were three men and two methods of producing it:

– The Scot, William Murdoch, who managed to light his house with gas produced from coal in 1792.
– The Frenchman, Lebon, who tried to use the gas obtained from distilling wood for similar purposes in 1801.
– The German, Frederick Albert Winsor, who in 1804 presented his experiments with gas lighting in London.

However, it was Winsor who created the first gas company in the world to provide street lighting with gas produced from coal. That was the London “Gas Light and Coke Company, in 1812.
1969 Start of the direct supply of natural gas
Natural gas was first used in the US in 1821, from a shallow well dug in Fredonia, New York, by William Hart, who is regarded as the "father of natural gas".

Natural gas arrived in Europe between the late 1950s and the early 1960s as a result of three factors:

– The discovery of natural gas fields in Europe and North Africa.
– The development of cryogenic technology between 1960-62.
– Growing ecological awareness and the search for cleaner alternative fuels to coal and oil, such as natural gas.

Supplying natural gas direct without the need for gas plants began in Spain in 1969.

A very important role in this development was played by Catalana de Gas y Electricidad which, with other stakeholders, set up Gas Natural S.A. to import natural gas from Libya and built a regasification plant in the Port of Barcelona, as well as the first Spanish LNG tanker: “El Laietà”.
1958 Start of industrial use
Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, the Stabilisation Plan and the Development Plans were implemented in Spain, and the peseta was floated on world currency exchange markets.

The installations in the gas sector were old and antiquated, so a process of modernisation began, in which the 1963 switch from manufacturing gas from coal to producing it with naphtha was of major importance.

This change was followed by the startup of more modern chemical plants, which meant an increase in the productive capacity of the plants.

To find an outlet for this increased production it was necessary to look for new uses of gas, which lead to the heavy promotion of gas heating.

From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, installations in the gas sector had become old and antiquated.

Industrial restructuring saw the start of a modernisation process, a very important feature of which was the switch from producing gas from coal to producing it from naphtha.
1894 Electricity arrives and is instantly popular
In 1894 Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG), the leading German and European company in the electricity industry, set up the Compañía Barcelonesa de Electricidad in Barcelona.

Faced with this, the Sociedad Catalana para el Alumbrado por Gas and Lebon decided to enter the market for generating and selling electricity, and together, in 1896, they founded the “Central Catalana de Electricidad”.

Later, in 1911, the Barcelona Traction, Light & Power company was set up with the help of international capital and huge financial backing. This company became the leading competitor in the electricity sector.

Vis-à-vis this situation. SCAG changed its strategy and started a process of major growth and acquisitions, in 1913 becoming the 7th company in Spain in terms of market capitalisation. During this period SCAG changed its name to Catalana de Gas y Electricidad (CGE).

The arrival of electricity meant that gas had a competitor in the lighting market, a battle which it ultimately lost. Consequently, gas had to find new uses, focusing primarily on the kitchen. Advertising was used heavily to promote it.
1843 First gas company in Spain founded
The history of gas use in Spain began in 1841, when Charles Lebon won the first contract for gas public lighting from Barcelona City Council.

A year later, as a consequence of this concession, the first gas plant in Spain was built in Barceloneta. In 1843, Lebon founded the Sociedad Catalana Para el Alumbrado por Gas (SCAG) with the Gil y Serra brothers and other shareholders.

From 1853 onwards, other companies entered and began competing in the market.

To this effect, SCAG began to extend geographically throughout Spain and, in 1884, it became the 7th European group in terms of its contributions to the Société Téchnique de l’industrie du Gaz.

As the use of gas for public lighting became more popular over the course of the 19th century, the idea arose of building a gas plant in the largest municipality and transporting it to the others in the area. And so, piped gas distribution began with the aim of saving on costs and investment.

Milestones injection of RM into Nedgia’s network

July 2023
Injection of 27 GWh/year of biomethane into the grid from the Anaerobic Digestion and Composting Plant of the CGRVO and the Granollers Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) of the Besòs Tordera Consortium, in Barcelona, equivalent to the consumption of 4,800 homes, avoiding the emission of 9,700 tonnes of CO2 per year.
June 2023
Injection of biomethane into the urban waste distribution network from the Can Mata controlled deposit, located in Els Hostalets de Pierola (Barcelona). Capacity of 70 GWh/year of biomethane, equivalent to the consumption of 14,000 homes, avoiding the emission of 17,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
January 2022
Injection into Nedgia’s network of 5 GWh/year of biomethane from the Bens Wastewater Treatment Plant (A Coruña).
December 2021
Injection of 30 GWh/year from the Torre Santamaría farm, located in Vallfogona de Balaguer (Lleida), into the Nedgia network, whose waste is obtained from livestock waste. It will avoid the emission of 6,000 tonnes of CO2/year into the atmosphere, equivalent to planting some 12,510 trees.
September 2021
Injection of biomethane using biogas generated from agro-industrial waste in Burgos. Biogasnalia Plant (UNUE Project). 25 GWh per year, avoiding the emission of 4,500 tonnes of CO2.
June 2021
Injection of biomethane produced from municipal waste in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona). First biogas plant in Catalonia, Elena plant. Injection capacity of 15 GWh/year, avoiding the emission of 2,400 tonnes of CO2.
2019
The first project to inject renewable gas into Nedgia's distribution network, from the Butarque Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Madrid, has started. The annual injection capacity was estimated at 5 GWh and the initiative avoided the emission of 1,270 tonnes of CO2/year into the atmosphere.
It has been 50 years since we began the distribution and expansion of natural gas in Spain.

We continue to innovate and write our history thanks to you.

History gives us the opportunity to remember where we have come from and also where we are going. And, this year, we have a special reason to celebrate: we have now played a role in the history of natural gas distribution for half a century.

Arrival of natural gas in 1969

The arrival of the first shipment of natural gas to Barcelona in 1969 revolutionised homes and industries across our country, as it marked the beginning of the end of gas production in factories. The beginning of direct natural gas supplies, an energy with a higher calorific value and much more respectful of the environment than manufactured gas. It marked a great step forward for society and the economy. Since then, natural gas networks have been expanding at an unstoppable rate.

In order to expand natural gas it was necessary to create an infrastructure that would allow the regasification of liquefied natural gas that arrived by ship and so, after a decade of national and international negotiations, in 1970 the regasification plant in Barcelona was opened.

“The increase in the standard of living with its demands for comfort, as it affects the domestic sector, and the need to have a noble energy source, such as natural gas, which allows for higher quality in final products to compete successfully in the markets, have been drivers of growth” – Gas Natural News Bulletin, June 1970. This significant change was implemented progressively.

The expansion of natural gas distribution networks was carried out in two phases (1969 – 1972 and 1985 – 1990), prioritising the arrival of natural gas to industrial customers with high energy demands and then to domestic customers.

In areas that did not previously have a manufactured gas infrastructure, distribution networks were developed, which involved the construction of kilometres of gas pipelines and conduits, while in areas that already had manufactured gas, only the operation known as gas switching was needed. In this way, the main areas of Barcelona and the surrounding areas had piped natural gas by 1971.

Expansion and development of the sector

The arrival of natural gas was a great success that would eventually be implemented across the rest of the country. In 1985, the Ministry of Industry and companies in the sector signed the so-called Protocol of Intentions for the development of gas in Spain. This great news helped to make up, in part, for the fact that the sector was historically some way behind Europe, where natural gas was already well established at that time.

This plan was the backbone of the complete expansion of natural gas as an energy source throughout the Spanish peninsula and involved the disappearance of all manufactured gas production facilities. In fact, gas production ended in 1997, which contributed to cleaner air in cities by eliminating the consumption of much more polluting fuel.

Since then, we have continued innovating and writing our own history thanks to you.

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