The Lazio regional administrative court has rejected an appeal by the Tuscan coastal city of Piombino against the decision to install a regasifier in the port, the municipal authorities said on Tuesday.
The court also ordered the municipality to pay 90,000 euros to cover the legal costs.
"It is a punitive sentence against a municipality that is guilty only of defending its city," said Mayor Francesco Ferrari, adding that the instruction to pay legal costs is "absolutely unjustified".
The dispute concerns the installation last March of the GolarTundra storage and regasification ship at the port of Piombino as part of Italy's effort to reduce its reliance on Russian gas following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The ship has the capacity to transform around five billion cubic meters of gas a year and is due to remain in Piombino for three years.
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