Brussels, 11/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission noted that the electricity companies, E.ON (German), Statkraft (Norway) and Elsam (Danish), have modified as of 1 January the agreements that would have allowed them to merge all of their electricity transportation capacity between Denmark and Norway and a third of their capacity between Denmark and Germany.
In a context of capacity shortages, the long-term reservation agreements concluded by the companies would have given, for twenty years, 60% of the total capacity of the only cable linking the western part of Denmark to Norway (the "Skagerrak" cable) to the benefit of the Norwegian electricity producer, Statkraft, and the dominant producers in the west of Denmark, Elsam. The remaining 40% of capacity remaining on the Skagerrak cable have been reserved for E.ON. Other agreement foreseeing to reserve 34% to E.ON of the interconnection capacity between Denmark and Germany until 2001.
Given the position of strength of the three companies on their respective markets, the Commission feared that the lack of open capacity on the high tension lines does not damage the trade between Norway, the western part of Denmark and Germany, threatening due to this the aims of the liberalisation of the electricity market started in 1998.
Before these fears, the three companies have renounced their long-term reservation. "We welcome this step forward in the direction of the internal market for electricity. With an open and non-discriminatory access to interconnections, there cannot be true competition", announced the European competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, in a press release. "The Commission will monitor the situation on all the overcharged interconnections, such as those that are on the borders between Germany and the Netherlands, Belgium and the Netherlands, France and Spain, as well as between France and Italy", it is noted in the press release.