The Competition Appeals Board has confirmed that a cartel operated in the energy sector, specifically affecting auctions for electricity reserve capacity in Western Denmark. The cartel, involving Effekthandel and eight power plants, coordinated pricing and bids at auctions for mFRR in the region.

The cartel, in operation for at least two years, aimed to raise prices at the hourly digital auctions. Energinet, the state-owned buyer of reserve capacity, estimated that the cartel inflated prices to 68 kr./MW in 2020 from a normal price of 5 kr./MW, resulting in an additional cost of 22 million kroner for Energinet that year.

Effekthandel and the eight power plants, including well-known names like Haderup Kraftvarmeværk and Silkeborg Varme, were found to have participated in the cartel. The cartel's scheme involved Effekthandel setting bid prices for the mFRR on behalf of the power plants, with the extra profits being shared among them.

In addition to the financial penalties, the Competition Appeals Board ruled that the Competition and Consumer Authority can disclose the names of the 49 companies involved in the cartel, as well as the size of the fund managed by Effekthandel. The violations of competition law occurred between September 2019 and at least August 2022.