State authority grants immediate gas drilling permit off German coast
Clean Energy Wire
A state authority in the German state of Lower Saxony has granted Dutch energy company ONE-Dyas permission to start drilling for gas in the North Sea, in the latest move in the long process around a contentious extraction plan.
The project, under the seabed in an ecologically protected area off the German island of Borkum, had faced several delays through legal action brought by climate groups. The Lower Saxony State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) has now, however, granted ONE-Dyas immediate permission to start drilling, saying it was in the public interest to reduce dependence on gas imports from regions outside the EU.
Still, climate groups have said that Germany’s gas supply is secure without the project, and that it is located in a very sensitive natural area which could be permanently damaged.
The gas platform is located on Dutch territory, yet some drilling would extend under the seabed to German territory, which is why approval from Germany was needed, too. The LBEG explained that the drilling would not penetrate the seabed in Germany. Instead, it would happen at a depth of 1,500 to 4,000 meters, almost horizontally from the Dutch side of the border.
“The fact that the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition has no qualms about pushing ahead with new gas projects shows that the profits of gas companies are more important to them than all the people affected by the consequences of the climate crisis,” said Yasin Hinz of Fridays for Future.
Germany covers around five percent of its gas demand from domestic supplies, which have been falling since the early 2000s. New gas projects are unlikely to significantly alter the share of domestic production in total gas supply. At the beginning of July, Germany’s new government signed an agreement with the Netherlands to exploit natural gas resources in the North Sea. At the same time, the environment ministry proposed to ban oil and natural gas drilling in marine protected areas along the country’s coast.
