A Dutch court has banned construction work for the planned natural gas production in the North Sea off the islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog. The ruling does not affect the approval for gas production; the ban only applies to the construction of a drilling platform.
The Dutch energy company One-Dyas announced that it would continue to press ahead with the project. A consortium around the company plans to extract natural gas from a field off the two North Sea islands. The Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands had already issued a license for this. The approval process is still ongoing on the German side. The court criticized that the possible harmful consequences of the construction work for nature and animals had not been sufficiently investigated. The verdict can be appealed. The Alliance for Environmental Aid filed a lawsuit against the approval on the Dutch side in July 2022. In April 2023, the court in The Hague temporarily banned construction work on the Dutch side in preparation for new gas drilling. The planned construction work could lead to increased nitrogen emissions. The consequences for seals have also not been properly investigated. Environmentalists and islanders have repeatedly demonstrated against the controversial natural gas extraction project. Critics fear that gas extraction could destroy the habitat of numerous endangered species such as soft corals and lobsters. Islanders are also worried about possible earthquakes as a result of gas production. One Dyas says they are ready to start work in the North Sea. The goal is still to have the first natural gas available by the end of 2024. After an installation period of several weeks, there will be a platform that will be operated with offshore wind energy from the Riffgat wind farm. The current Environment Minister Christian Meyer (Greens) recently stated that the project was a good idea. The company noted that the production platform is almost ready for transportation.