The Copenhagen Maritime and Commercial High Court has ruled that Elsam abused its dominant position in the wholesale electricity market in Western Denmark from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2006.
DONG Energy executive vice president Thomas Dalsgaard said: “We disagree with the judgment.
“In the Copenhagen Maritime and Commercial High Court, we've shown that the total costs which the Danish competition authorities recognised that Elsam was entitled to have covered, exceed the prices charged by the company in the period investigated. In addition – for a part of the period in question – Elsam and the Danish Competition Authority had agreed that Elsam was not entitled to offer sales prices on the Nordic power exchange which exceeded the highest expected price in the neighbouring countries.”
Danish offshore wind major Dong said that it has set aside DKK298m (€40m) to cover compensation arising out of the case.
The company said that the ruling may be appealed to the next court. The deadline for appealing the judgment is 27 September 2016.
It said the Copenhagen Maritime and Commercial High Court is the first court to hear the case.
Dalsgaard said: “We don't believe that Elsam violated the competition rules. We will now read
the reasons and decide whether to appeal the judgment.”
In 2007, the Danish Competition Council finalized that Elsam had abused its dominant position for an 18-month period.
Later, 1,106 Danish plaintiffs headed by the Danish energy trading company Energi Danmark filed a lawsuit against Elsam, claiming damages for losses suffered in the period.
Dong took control of Elsam in 2015.
