HANNOVER/STADE (dpa-AFX) - Environmental organizations are taking legal action against the approval for the construction and operation of the first fixed LNG terminal in Stade. The planned construction violates national and international climate targets and the plans have serious safety-related flaws, according to a statement by BUND Lower Saxony on Wednesday. Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) supports the lawsuit that BUND's regional association filed against the Lüneburg Trade Supervisory Office at the Federal Administrative Court on Tuesday.

The future operation of the landside LNG terminal with fossil gas until 2043 contradicts the climate law passed by the state parliament, which stipulates greenhouse gas neutrality for Lower Saxony by 2040, said BUND state chairwoman Susanne Gerstner. There were also major gaps in the approval documents. "Possible sturgeon cases are not sufficiently taken into account, even though there are large chemical plants in the immediate vicinity. A shipwreck on the busy Elbe could have serious consequences for nearby areas that are protected throughout Europe," she said. In addition, the risks posed by increasing storm surges and rising tidal water levels were underestimated.

DUH Federal Managing Director Sascha Müller-Kraenner sees the danger of irreversible fossil dependency: "The first fixed LNG plant on land is to be built here, which will allow fossil natural gas to be imported for decades. It is already clear that fracking gas in particular will be imported in Stade." The users EnBW and SEFE have already concluded long-term supply contracts with US companies. This means that the project in Stade will also enable the expansion of the US LNG and fracking industry.

A floating terminal ship and a fixed, land-based terminal for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) are currently being planned at the Stade site. The floating terminal is due to go into operation in the coming weeks. The much larger landside terminal will replace the floating terminal and, according to the permit, will be operated with fossil natural gas until the end of 2043. The project, which was due to be completed in 2026, has been delayed. In December 2023, BUND Lower Saxony and DUH lodged an objection to the approval of the fixed terminal with the Lüneburg Trade Supervisory Office, which was rejected in February.

In response to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, the German government declared in 2022 that it would build several LNG terminals. The LNG imports are intended to help close the supply gap caused by the lack of Russian gas supplies. Last year, however, Germany only handled a small proportion of its gas imports via the multi-billion euro terminals.

In addition to Stade, a further terminal is to be added in Wilhelmshaven in the coming months. A floating LNG terminal has already been in operation there for a year, as well as in Brunsbüttel in Schleswig-Holstein and Lubmin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania./koe/DP/stw