Hamburg – On 25 January 2024, Germany’s Federal Administrative Court dismissed the fast-track actions brought by environmental groups Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and NABU against the amended planning approval granted by Stralsund Department of Mining on 8 January 2024 for the construction and operation of the first marine section of the Baltic Connector Pipeline (Ostsee Anbindungsleitung – OAL).
A CMS team headed by Dr Christiane Kappes and Dr Neele Christiansen represented the proponent, GASCADE Gastransport GmbH (GASCADE), as summoned party in the proceedings before the Federal Administrative Court. GASCADE operates a natural gas pipeline system in Germany with a total length of around 3,700 kilometres. The team previously advised GASCADE on all aspects of the planning approval procedure for the OAL.
At around 50 kilometres long, the OAL offshore pipeline connects the LNG terminal planned by Deutsche ReGas (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit – FSRU) for Mukran on the island of Rügen to the existing long-distance gas grid in Lubmin. This LNG project is set to feed at least ten billion cubic metres of natural gas a year from the OAL into the German gas grid, replacing some of the previous gas imports from Russia and making a significant contribution to energy security.
The Federal Administrative Court had previously rejected the fast-track actions brought by DUH and NABU against the original planning resolution of 21 August 2023 in its decisions of 12 and 15 September 2023 (BVerwG 7 VR 4.23 and BVerwG 7 VR 6.23). The amended planning approval granted on 8 January 2024 lifts the current end date for construction of 31 December 2023 and enables work on the marine side to be continued until 29 February 2024. The Federal Administrative Court has now rejected the fast-track actions against this amended planning approval, which were directed at halting construction. The summary review required by fast-track proceedings concluded that the amended planning approval is justified in assuming an ongoing gas supply crisis. The court found no procedural inadequacies at this point in time in connection with the lack of a preliminary environmental impact assessment and the non-involvement of the nature conservation groups. The extension of the construction period is also not likely to be in breach of conservation law, because the amended planning approval includes appropriate provisions to ensure that biotopes, habitats and species are not damaged to any substantial extent.
The Federal Administrative Court’s case references are 7 VR 1/24 and 7 VR 2/24.
CMS Germany
Dr Christiane Kappes, Partner
Dr Neele Christiansen, Partner
Sebastian Belz, Counsel
Knut Göring-Tisch, Associate, all Real Estate & Public
Press Contact
presse@cms-hs.com
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