Court bars energy firm from building power connection for gas platform in North Sea

A German court has temporarily banned the construction of an electricity connection needed to power a planned gas drilling platform in the Wadden Sea, a World Heritage Site in the North Sea, reports news agency dpa. The ruling followed an urgent appeal filed by environmentalists. The administrative court in Oldenburg ruled that the recently approved cable to the platform by Dutch drilling company One-Dyas off the Island of Borkum may not be laid for the time being, said dpa. One-Dyas wants to develop a gas field, half of which lies under the German North Sea and half under the Dutch North Sea. “Today's court decision is an important signal for the protection of the unique Wadden Sea ecosystem,” said Susanne Gerstner, head of the regional Friends of the Earth branch (BUND). Youth climate movement Fridays for Future called the ruling “an unbelievably great success” that “must be the signal to stop this fossil megaproject”. The organisation called on its supporters to attend a demonstration planned on the island on Saturday (10 August) in protest against the plans.

According to Friends of the Earth, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee recently reprimanded Germany, warning that the increasing industrial use of the Wadden Sea is not compatible with the World Heritage status of the international protected area. The construction of the submarine cable was due to start on Friday and is a prerequisite for the operation of the drilling platform off Borkum on the Dutch site of the border between Germany and the Netherlands, according to the article. Friends of the Earth and two other environmental organisations involved in the appeal called on the responsible state government and the federal government to cancel the gas project altogether. Environmental Action Germany (DUH) said the project risked harming Germany's credibility when it comes to climate protection. “This must not be jeopardised for the profit interests of a single company,” said the lobby group’s Constantin Zerger. One-Dyas called the decision "bad news for security of supply, the economy and the climate”, adding that the imported gas which Germany relies on caused more emissions than producing it domestically.

In June, the highest Dutch court temporarily halted the project by granting an application by DUH and its partner organisations and imposed a construction freeze until the hearing in the interim legal protection proceedings. One-Dyas in 2022 secured permits from the Dutch government as well as from the German state government of Lower Saxony, which approved the plan in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.