London Array – High-Voltage power cables cartel
Hausfeld acted for London Array in its follow-on cartel damages claim in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT). The claim arose from the European Commission’s Decision dated 2 April 2014 in Case AT.39610, Power Cables.
The claim concerned high-voltage submarine export cables supplied to the London Array offshore windfarm, one the largest offshore windfarm in the world, and sought compensation for cartel inflated pricing by Nexans.
Action
Hausfeld led a complex, multi year follow-on damages claim in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, coordinating a multidisciplinary team across legal and economic disciplines. Working with Brick Court Chambers and Oxera, we developed and presented a detailed factual and economic narrative around the London Array tender, including how historic cartel conduct continued to shape bidding behaviour and price formation.
The litigation involved innovative margin and pricing analysis comparing cartel period and post cartel projects, and the management of sophisticated expert evidence on overcharge, quantum and pass on in a regulated, subsidised market. It raised novel issues around tenders that straddle cartel and post cartel periods and the interaction between cartel overcharges and the UK Renewables Obligation subsidy regime.
Outcome
The case proceeded through a fully contested trial, resulting in a series of landmark judgments on cartel overcharge, interest and pass‑on in a regulated, subsidised sector.
In its judgment of 10 October 2025, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal held that the Power Cables cartel had caused loss to London Array in the form of an overcharge on the high‑voltage submarine export cables connecting the windfarm to shore. The Tribunal assessed the overcharge at 5% on those export cables, based on margin comparisons between cartel‑period and post‑cartel projects, and found no evidence of overcharge in relation to the inter‑array cables connecting the turbines, which were supplied by a non‑cartelist. The Tribunal additionally awarded simple interest at the Bank of England base rate plus 2% on the damages.
In a second judgment of 30 October 2025, the Tribunal rejected the defendants’ argument that London Array’s overcharge loss had been avoided or passed on through higher levels of subsidy under the UK Renewables Obligation scheme. It found that the subsidy regime did not operate as a mechanism to offset or pass on the cartel overcharge, confirming London Array’s entitlement to recover its loss in full.
On 10 July 2026, the Court of Appeal (Green LJ, sitting alone) refused Nexans’ application for permission to appeal the CAT’s judgment in London Array v Nexans [2025] CAT 59.
With that decision, the Tribunal’s findings became final, and the case established itself as a significant precedent for follow on cartel damages claims in complex infrastructure and regulated markets.
