Our history
For us, it is important to keep our origins in mind. Ellevio's family tree stretches back all the way to the 1600s. This is when hydropower was first utilised to make work more efficient in so-called mill towns and factory towns. Uddeholms Bruk, Billeruds Bruk and Kraftaktiebolaget Gullspång-Munkfors are all part of our history in one way or another. We also have a valuable presence in Sweden's capital owing to Stockholm Energi. And, even today, this is markedly apparent; we have our head office in Stockholm, a bustling office in Karlstad, and employees in dozens of other towns and cities.
Our history
| 1668 | Harald Pose and Johan Carlström establish a forge and foundry at Stjernfors, north of Uddeholm village along the Uvån river, where hydropower begins to be utilised at ironworks. |
| 1724 | The company Uddeholms Bruk is founded by Bengt Gustaf Geijer. |
| 1852 | “Gaslysnings-Aktiebolaget” is established in Stockholm. |
| 1873 | AB Mölnbacka-Trysil is established through the merger of Mölnbacka Bruk and Trysils Skogsbolag. |
| 1883 | Billeruds Aktiebolag is founded with the goal of producing paper pulp at the sulphite factory in Säffle. |
| 1892 | The city of Stockholm's first power station is built as a subsidiary of Gasverket. |
| 1902 | Aktiebolaget Skandinaviska Elverk is founded to oversee the power stations owned by ASEA in central and southern Swedish cities. |
| 1906 | Kraftaktiebolaget Gullspång-Munkfors is established by John Hedin. The company's headquarters were located in Mariestad and their first office was set up in Lidköping. |
| 1918 | Gullspång acquires the majority shareholding in Örebro Elektriska AB. But it was not until 1963 that Gullspång-Munkfors and Örebro Elektriska merged under the new name of Gullspångs Kraftaktiebolag. |
| 1951 | Värmlands Ledningsaktiebolag is established, later named Värmlandskraft. The joint owners constituted Billerud, Rottneros, Karlstad, Mölnbacka-Trysil, Sundhagsfors and Uddeholm. The ambition was to coordinate the joint owners' production and power transmission. |
| 1981 | Gullspångs Kraft is publicly listed. |
| 1982 | Billerud and Uddeholm consolidate their power divisions in the jointly owned company Värmlandsenergi, headquartered in Karlstad. |
| 1983 | Vänerenergi is acquired by LRF, with over one hundred hydropower stations around Oskarshamn and Forsmark. |
| 1987 | The Uddeholm Group is transferred to AGA. The subsidiary company, Värmlandsenerg, changes its name to Uddeholms Kraft and assumes Uddeholmsbolaget's corporate ID number. |
| 1992 | Merger between Uddeholms Kraft and Gullspångskraft. The company also acquires AB Hälsingekraft and Stora Kraft's distribution business in this year, resulting in a shareholding in Härjeåns Kraft through Stora Kraft. |
| 1996 | IVO (Imatran Voima Oy) acquires AGA's entire shareholdings, as well as the remaining shares in Gullspångs Kraft. Gullspångs Kraft acquires Skandinaviska Elverk in the same year. |
| 1998 | Fortum is established through the merger of IVO and the Neste oil and gas group. |
| 1998 | Birka Energi is established through the merger of Stockholm Energi and Gullspångs Kraft. This new company is equally owned by the City of Stockholm and Fortum. |
| 2000 | Stora Enso acquires power assets in ¬Sweden and Finland and the company's regional electrical grid in Sweden. The regional electrical grid is acquired by Birka Nät while the power ¬assets are acquired directly by Fortum. |
| 2002 | Fortum acquires the remaining 50 % of Birka Energi, except for one part of the heating business where ¬the City of Stockholm is still a joint owner. |
| 2015 | Fortum sells its electricity distribution business in Sweden to a consortium made up of Tredje AP-fonden, Folksam, Första AP-fonden and OMERS Infrastructure, former Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc. The new company is named Ellevio. |
| 2016 | we acquires Nynäshamn Energi, which in 2017 was integrated into Ellevio's operations. |
| 2019 | we are launching a new model to build more charging poles for electric cars. The concept makes it easier, faster and cheaper to get new charging places. |
| 2020 | we acquires Hamra Besparingsskog electricity grid and get about 500 new customers. The same year, we launch our largest project ever; the new cable between Beckomberga and Bredäng in Stockholm. |
The arrival of the electricity in Sweden
Electricity only began to have a real impact on people's lives towards the end of the 1800s. First in the form of lighting such as street lights and basic lamps, which made the workday simpler for workers in sawmills, forges and other industries. In 1884 Sweden attained its first power station. It supplied power to about 1,000 light bulbs in central Gothenburg.
Sweden's first proper electrical grid was built in 1893, between Hellsjön and Grängesberg. Development moved swiftly from this point. At the beginning of the 1900s, an increasing number of industries began using electrical power, and the first electric tram was put into operation in Stockholm in 1901.
Electricity created a sense of security and safety among city dwellers. Lamps illuminated areas that were previously dark, and when electricity made its way into people's homes during the 1930s and 1940s, this started something akin to a revolution. Electricity paved the way for running water, water heating, and flushing toilets. New devices simplified daily life for people and also changed their working lives, owing to heavy manual labour being supplanted by machinery and the creation of new types of jobs. Just like today, electricity has served as a facilitator historically. It has granted people freedom and has made life simpler.
Connecting the Electricity Grids
In 1952, the electricity grids were connected together and formed what we refer to today as the national electrical grid of Sweden. And some of the original parts of the electrical grid are still in operation - even to this day. If you take a close look at electricity poles, you will be able to see the year-mark. Even though it is rather uncommon, there are poles that have stood in the same place since the 1940s. The electrical grid we are establishing at present is thought to last for 40-50 years.
