Bundeskartellamt imposes fine on account of customer allocation agreement concerning services provided for heat exchangers used in power plants

The Bundeskartellamt has imposed a fine of 1.89 million euros on Alstom Power Energy Recovery GmbH on account of an anti-competitive customer allocation agreement concerning services provided for heating surfaces of regenerative heat exchangers used in power plants. Apart from Alstom Power Energy Recovery GmbH, Balcke-Dürr GmbH was also involved in the customer allocation agreement, which covered the whole of Germany. The proceedings were triggered by a leniency application filed by Balcke-Dürr GmbH on which no fine was imposed in accordance with the Bundeskartellamt's leniency programme.

Regenerative heat exchangers (air preheaters and gas preheaters) improve the efficiency of power plants, e.g. by using the waste heat from flue gas to preheat combustion air. The energy is transferred through so-called heating surfaces which must be serviced and exchanged at regular intervals. Alstom and Balcke-Dürr are the leading suppliers of regenerative heat exchangers for power plants in Germany. 

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "The agreement between Alstom and Balcke-Dürr aimed at having service orders for the heating surfaces of heat exchangers placed with the company that had originally installed the heat exchanger. To achieve this purpose, the other company contacted the original equipment manufacturer to enquire about his price and then submitted an excessively high offer price to the power plant operator. This cartel practice was carried out at least between December 2003 and March 2012."

As public tenders may have been affected by the cartel, the Mannheim Public Prosecutor's Office is also conducting investigations against those involved in the agreement on suspicion of bid rigging. The Bundeskartellamt and the Mannheim Public Prosecutor's Office coordinated their investigative steps and closely cooperated throughout the proceedings.

In setting the fine the Bundeskartellamt took into account that Alstom Power Energy Recovery GmbH also cooperated extensively with the authority and that a settlement could be reached. The order imposing the fine is not yet final. The decision can be appealed to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.