The N05-A natural gas project in the Dutch sector of the North Sea ran into another legal trouble, as a court-ordered temporary halt of operations forced its drilling plans to go awry. A provisional ruling has now enabled the Netherlands-headquartered ONE-Dyas to move forward with its planned activities for the project envisioned to run on offshore wind power.
According to the preliminary relief judge of the Council of State, who has lifted the suspension of the so-called disciplinary measure imposed two weeks ago, the operator may install and use its planned wind-powered production platform 20 kilometers north of Schiermonnikoog to start extracting gas from the North Sea by the end of 2024.
Thanks to this, ONE-Dyas can provisionally use the permit and permissions granted by the State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate for the N05-A gas project until the Administrative Jurisdiction Division makes a final ruling later in the substantive proceedings on the objections of various nature-preservation-focused organizations to the development.
🚨BREAKING: fossil fuel company #OneDyas has been granted permission to start drilling for fossil gas off Borkum IMMEDIATELY.
This SERIOUSLY threatens people, biodiversity, and accelerates the climate crisis!
HELP US demand the EU stop new fossil fuel infrastructure… https://t.co/fRaPjE1I8o
— Greenpeace International (@Greenpeace) June 21, 2024
The provisional ruling highlights that the State Secretary’s interest in this legal case stems from concerns over the security of natural gas supply in the coming winter period 2024-2025 to bridge the Dutch energy transition due to the permanent closure of the Groninger field and the loss of the supply of Russian gas.
Afgelopen woensdag hebben rebellen van XR en Scientist Rebellion als onderdeel van de campagne ‘Noordzee Fossielvrij’ spandoeken opgehangen bij het hoofdkantoor van One-Dyas, en het bedrijf een stevige ‘greenwash’ gegeven. One-Dyas moet stoppen met nieuwe gasboringen. pic.twitter.com/1TxnwgNUPI
— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) January 27, 2024
During a hearing, ONE-Dyas explained that the N05-A platform would need to be installed in the summer to meet the production deadline of achieving the first natural gas from the project by the end of 2024. To this end, the Dutch player contracted Heerema Marine Contractors’ Sleipnir crane vessel for a set period beginning in August 2024.
In addition, the operator underscored that the Sleipnir vessel was the only internationally operating ship running on LNG, contributing significantly to cuts in harmful local emissions of the project compared to other internationally operating installation vessels
In light of this, the production platform needs to be towed to the drilling location no later than July 31, 2024, to meet the installation slot, thus, the Dutch firm will have to make various calls no later than June 21, 2024. Around four weeks are anticipated to be required to make the platform and undercarriage sea-tight before the production platform can be towed to the drilling location.
Volgens de Chris de Ruyter van Steveninck, CEO van gaswinningsbedrijf ONE-Dyas zitten we nog altijd in een energiecrisis en moeten we daar ook naar handelen: ’Als we eindeloos over alles blijven praten, gaat deze transitie fout.'
🎧https://t.co/jRjZZp4y6q pic.twitter.com/ndMTfyzNMR
— NPO Radio 1 (@NPORadio1) April 22, 2024
In the wake of the opponents’ claims that the N05-A project might still require permits in Germany for the construction of the electricity cable, ONE-Dyas explained at the hearing that if such permits end up being needed in Germany, it would continue with the installation of the production platform irrespective of it.
Despite the gas project’s somewhat chequered history with court proceedings, the final current may still end up in its favor and push its development along, allowing it to come into operation by the end of 2024, as planned. If the project reaches the production stage, the N05-A platform will run entirely on renewable energy from the nearby 113.4 MW Riffgat offshore wind farm.
Sources :Offshore Energy _ Agenceies
