The High Court in London has dismissed a £15m cable repair claim by the offshore transmission system operator at the Gwynt Y Mor wind farm off North Wales.
Gwynt y Mȏr OFTO plc, a consortium of Balfour Beatty and Equitix, took the case against the Innogy-led consortium that developed the project after two cables failed in March and September 2015, some months after the transmission assets changed hands in February of that year.
The OFTO argued that it was entitled to “reinstatement costs” under clause 8.2 of a sale and purchase agreement with the defendants, which stated that assets damaged before completion of the deal were to be indemnified for full costs.
However, the Innogy consortium rejected this on several grounds including that an indemnity only applied if the cables were damaged in the period between the signing of the agreement and completion.
In a ruling issued this week, Lord Justice Phillips agreed with Innogy that the indemnity was limited to damage occurring in the period between signing of the agreement and completion.
“As changes to the cables during the period of the Indemnity were limited to unobservable corrosion, no damage was suffered during that period,” he said.
“However, even if unobservable corrosion could potentially amount to damage, there is no evidence in this case that it was such as to impair the use or value of the cables, and so there was no damage in any event.”
He added: “I find that the claimant is not entitled to an indemnity under clause 8.2 of the SPA. The claim must therefore be dismissed.”
Innogy and Balfour Beatty declined to comment.