History

The Csepel industrial estate was established in 1892. It was driven primarily by military-related industry during First World War, during which time some 20,000 people were reported to be working on the estate.

The early owners aimed to be self-sufficient from the beginning, and built their own power plant. The subsequent development of the power plant was closely linked with the development of the Industrial Estate.

Regular renewals gained momentum with the privatisation of the old power station in 1995. This event created the opportunity to build a new world-class combined-cycle power plant operating with environmentally friendly technology.

Atel AG signed its first energy supply contract with Hungarian Power Companies Ltd. (MVM) in 1996. Since we entered the Hungarian market, we have grown to become a significant market participant and one of Hungary’s largest foreign energy traders.

We acquired the Csepel power plant complex in 2002, becoming a major foreign investor in Hungary and underpinning our company’s long-term commitment to the Hungarian market. Built in 2000, Csepel II was the first power plant in Hungary to be funded by private capital.

In September 2002, the predecessor of Alpiq Energy SE, Atel Energia Kft., was established in Budapest with the aim of creating and expanding local offices within the liberalising Hungarian energy market and serving as a hub for electricity trading in Central Europe.

In spring 2003, our Hungarian company obtained a trading license. This was an important milestone, as it enabled us to rapidly respond to the partial liberalisation of the market and to be among the first to participate in cross-border trading and production capacity auctions. Alpiq’s international portfolio has enhanced the market liquidity and played a key role in the development of an open Hungarian electricity market.

In addition to electricity trading, Atel AG strengthened its domestic Hungarian presence and increase its sales in the run-up to full market liberalisation, which took place on 1 January 2008. Thanks to our successful infrastructure development and organisational restructuring measures, we achieved the optimal position to be able to offer customised products to end consumers in the industrial and services sectors.

At the beginning of 2009, Olten-based Atel and EOS of western Switzerland merged to form Alpiq. This merger made Alpiq one of Switzerland’s leading energy companies.

In August 2009, Alpiq Energy SE was created from the companies and subsidiaries of Atel Energy AG in the EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe. At the beginning of 2010 Alpiq Energia Magyarország Kft. transferred its wholesale activities to the European company. Alpiq’s next milestone in Hungary was the merger with Alpiq Energia Magyarország Kft., including the transfer of all rights and liabilities, to create Alpiq Energy SE. Since 1 December 2010, Alpiq Energy SE has been managing its end consumer sales activities via its Hungarian offices. In 2012 our internally developed APPC was established.