Federal Court issues ruling on Datteln 4 power plant

Process - Federal Court issues ruling on Datteln 4 power plant

The Federal Administrative Court is dealing with the legality of the development plan for the Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia. The environmental association BUND, the town of Waltrop and several local residents consider the plan to be invalid and have filed complaints (Ref.: BVerwG 4 CN 4.22 - 4 CN 6.22). The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig plans to announce its decision this Thursday (1 p.m.).

Dispute for many years

There has been a dispute about the power plant for many years. An initial development plan was declared invalid back in 2009 because it was not in line with regional planning. The newly drawn up plan was also not upheld by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court (OVG). The court ruled in Münster 2021 that mistakes had been made in the choice of location and declared the plan invalid. The city of Datteln and the power plant operator Uniper have lodged an appeal against this decision.

Errors in the choice of location?

At the hearing in Leipzig, the city and Uniper requested that the ruling of the Higher Administrative Court be overturned and the appeals dismissed. In the view of their lawyers, the Higher Administrative Court had gone too far in its ruling and placed unacceptably high demands on the planning. Among other things, the OVG criticized the fact that alternative locations had not been examined from the outset at the regional planning level. The search area had been wrongly limited to the Emscher-Lippe region. The city of Datteln had adopted the errors of regional planning in its assessment.

Controversial large power plant

The Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant has been supplying electricity since 2020. Its commissioning was accompanied by protests. On Wednesday, activists from Fridays for Future held a small vigil in front of the Federal Administrative Court and demanded that the "black building" be demolished. Around a third of the electricity generated in Datteln is supplied to Deutsche Bahn, the rest is sold on the electricity market. The power plant also supplies the town of Datteln with district heating.

Continued operation even if the B-Plan is invalid?

Should the Federal Administrative Court also consider the development plan to be invalid, this would initially have no direct impact on operations. This is based on a so-called immission control permit from 2017, which the plaintiffs are also challenging. The proceedings are pending at the OVG Münster, but are currently suspended, according to a spokesperson. The ruling on the validity of the development plan is to be awaited before a decision is made on the operating permit.

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1. The Federal Administrative Court is currently examining the legality of the Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant's development plan in North Rhine-Westphalia, contested by environmental organization BUND, Waltrop city, and local residents.
2. The city of Datteln and Uniper, the power plant operator, have filed appeals against the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court's 2021 decision, which declared the plan invalid due to errors in the location choice.
3. In the Federal Administrative Court hearing in Leipzig, the city and Uniper urged to reverse the Higher Administrative Court's ruling and dismiss their appeals, arguing that the court placed excessively high demands on the planning.
4. The Higher Administrative Court previously criticized the fact that alternative locations were not considered at the regional planning level, limiting the search area to the Emscher-Lippe region.
5. The controversial Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant started generating electricity in 2020, sparking protests throughout the commissioning process.
6. Supplies of around a third of the generated electricity go to Deutsche Bahn, with the remainder sold on the electricity market, while the power plant also Heats Datteln town with district heating.
7. If the Federal Administrative Court determines that the development plan is invalid, it will not immediately affect operations due to an emissions control permit from 2017.
8. Challenges to the permits are being handled by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court, with proceedings currently suspended, as per a spokesperson.
9. The Federal Court ruling on the development plan's validity is anticipated to influence the decision on the operating permit.
10. The Datteln 4 coal-fired power plant's legal battles continue at both the Federal Administrative Court and the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court.

Source: www.stern.de