private industry oil shale industry power generation predecessor riigi p levkivit stus as esimene eesti p levkivit stus slantsehim ras kiviter headquarters kohtla j rve estonia key people priit rohumaa ceo 1 website www.vkg.ee viru keemia grupp vkg is an estonian holding group of oil shale industry power generation and public utility companies . contents 1 history 2 operations 2.1 shale oil production 2.2 power generation and distribution 2.3 other activities 3 subsidiaries 4 bibliography 5 references 6 external links history edit after estonia gained independence the state owned oil shale enterprise riigi p levkivit stus english estonian state oil shale industry was established as a department of the ministry for trade and industry on 24 november 1918 . shale oil production started in estonia in 1921 when riigi p levkivit stus built 14 experimental oil shale processing retorts in kohtla j rve . 2 3 these vertical retorts used the method developed by julius pintsch ag that would later evolve into the current kiviter processing technology . 3 along with the shale oil extraction plant an oil shale research laboratory was founded in 1921 . 4 following the experimental retorts the first commercial shale oil plant was put into operation on 24 december 1924 . this is considered as a beginning of the history of viru keemia grupp . 5 in october 1936 riigi p levkivit stus was reorganized as the government owned joint stock company and was renamed esimene eesti p levkivit stus . 6 it operated three shale oil extraction plants and was constructing the fourth plant . after occupation of estonia by the soviet union the company was subordinated to the soviet authorities in december 1940 . 7 during the subsequent german occupation the industry was merged into a company named baltische l gmbh subordinated to kontinentale l. 8 9 during the following soviet occupation the company became the kohtla j rve shale oil combinate russian under the general directorate of synthetic liquid fuel and gas of the ussr glavgaztopprom . 10 in 1948 the company opened an oil shale gas plant and for several decades the oil shale gas was used as a substitute for natural gas in saint petersburg then known as leningrad and in northern estonian cities . 11 12 it was the first time in history that synthetic gas from oil shale was used in households . 13 in 1995 the kohtla j rve factory and factory in kivi li were merged into the single company named ras kiviter . 14 in 1997 kiviter was privatized and a year later it declared insolvency . its factory in kohtla j rve was acquired by newly established viru keemia grupp . 15 in 2008 the company received a permit for developing the boltysh oil shale deposit in ukraine . 16 vkg oil opened three new galoter type oil plants called petroter correspondingly in december 2009 in october 2014 and in november 2015 . 17 18 19 in january 2016 the company announced that due to low oil price it will close the old oil plants using kiviter technology and lay off 500 workers . 20 operations edit vkg s two main areas of operations are shale oil extraction and electricity and heat production and distribution . shale oil production edit the subsidiary producing shale oil is vkg oil . the company utilizes two different processes kiviter and galoter . 21 22 23 24 the company also tested but rejected the alberta taciuk process . 25 in total vkg oil processes 2 million tons of oil shale per year producing 250 000 tons of shale oil . the company operates several kiviter retorts the largest of them having a processing capacity of 40 tonnes per hour of oil shale feedstock . 15 26 these retorts are currently out of operation due to low oil price . 20 it also operates three galoter type retorts called petroter . 24 engineering of the retort was done by atomenergoproject of saint petersburg ; engineering of the condensation and distillation plant was done by rintekno of finland . 27 the first petroter plant has a processing capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of oil shale per year and it produces 100 000 tonnes of shale oil 30 million cubic metres 1.1 10 9 cu ft of oil shale gas and 150 gwh of steam per year . 24 power generation and distribution edit vkg s subsidiary vkg energia a power and heat generation company was established in 2004 after vkg bought the kohtla j rve power plant and the kohtla j rve heat distribution system from kohtla j rve soojus . 28 in 2005 it bought another power plant in kohtla j rve from fortum termest . 29 in 2006 vkg bought a 40 8 % stake in kohtla j rve soojus an operator of the ahtme power plant and in 2010 it took a full control of the company now vkg soojus . 30 31 all generations capacities were transferred to vkg energia while vkg soojus is responsible for heat distribution . 31 32 all generations capacities were transferred to vkg energia while vkg soojus is responsible for heat distribution . 31 vkg energia has installed electrical capacity of 80 mw and heat capacity of 700 mw . 33 in july 2006 vkg acquired narva elektriv rk the second largest power distribution company in estonia 34 and renamed it vkg elektriv rgud . 35 36 37 other activities edit in april 2011 vkg acquired assets of a bankrupt company silbet plokk that manufactured cinder blocks for construction from oil shale burning residue . 1 38 39 the company was renamed vkg plokk . 39 subsidiaries edit main subsidiaries of vkg are vkg oil shale oil producer viru rmt company producing assembling and repairing metal structures pipelines and pressure equipment vkg transport transportation company vkg energia heat and power generation company vkg soojus heat distribution company vkg elektriv rgud electricity distribution company vkg elektriehitus construction of power systems vkg kaevandused oil shale mining vkg plokk production of cinder blocks ooo slantsehim 73.4 % developer of boltysh oil shale deposit in ukraine administrative building factory bibliography edit aaloe aasa ; bauert heikki ; soesoo alvar 2007 . kukersite oil shale pdf . tallinn geoguide baltoscandia . isbn 978 9985 9834 2 3 . holmberg rurik 2008 . survival of the unfit . path dependence and the estonian oil shale industry pdf . link ping studies in arts and science . 427 . link ping university . ots arvo 2006 2004 . tyson toni ; mcquillen mary eds . oil shale fuel combustion . tallinn arvo ots ; eesti energia . isbn 978 9949 13 710 7 . references edit a b h bem gi toomas 2011 04 12 . viru keemia group buys bankrupt maker of cinder blocks . bnn . retrieved 2011 07 09 . ots 2004 pp. 15 16 a b lindquist w. 1937 09 11 . estl ndska oljeskifferindustrien estonian oil shale industry . teknisk tidskrift . kemi in swedish 9 71 75 . archived from the original on 2014 07 23 . retrieved 2014 03 31 . aaloe et al. 2007 p. 21 aleksandrov julia 2009 . 85 years of oil shale processing in estonia pdf . oil shale . a scientific technical journal . estonian academy publishers . 26 4 540 543 . issn 0208 189x . retrieved 2016 01 17 . holmberg 2008 p. 99 holmberg 2008 p. 129 uibopuu lembit . saksa kapital eesti p levkivit stuses 1922 1940 ja eesti p levkivit stus saksa okupatsiooni ajal 1941 1944 the german capital in estonian oil shale industry 1922 1940 and the estonian oil shale industry during the german occupation 1941 1944 in estonian . tallinn university of technology . archived from the original on 2014 10 26 . retrieved 2014 04 05 . holmberg 2008 pp. 130 131 holmberg 2008 p. 137 valgma ingo . map of oil shale mining history in estonia . tallinn university of technology . archived from the original on 2014 08 17 . retrieved 2008 10 25 . holmberg 2008 p. 139 holmberg 2008 p. 135 estonian energy 1991 2000 doc . ministry of economic affairs . 2001 . p. 85 . archived from the original on 2014 12 09 . retrieved 2014 12 09 . a b koel mihkel 1999 . estonian oil shale . oil shale . a scientific technical journal . estonian academy publishers extra . issn 0208 189x . retrieved 2008 11 23 . viru keemia grupp starts analysing ukrainian oil shale . bnn . 2008 02 12 . retrieved 2011 07 09 . h bem gi toomas 2009 12 22 . vkg opens estonia s most modern oil refinery . bbn . archived from the original on 2014 11 10 . retrieved 2011 07 09 . viru keemia group opens second shale oil plant . err . 2014 10 08 . archived from the original on 2014 12 01 . retrieved 2015 01 04 . vkg avas p levkivit tlemise tehase petroter iii vkg opens petroter iii oil shale processing plant . postimees in estonian . bns . 2015 11 11 . archived from the original on 2014 12 01 . retrieved 2016 01 17 . a b vkg to lay off 500 workers . err . bns . 2016 01 15 . archived from the original on 2016 01 17 . retrieved 2016 01 17 . siirde a. ; 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