Federal Administrative Court - Verdict on Datteln 4 power plant handed down on Thursday
On Wednesday, the Federal Administrative Court dealt 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.
Federal Administrative Court Leipzig Chronology of the approval procedure
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- The 'Datteln 4' power station, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, has been a subject of controversy for many years, with various legal challenges being raised against its development plan.
- The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig is set to deliver its pronouncement of judgment on the legality of the development plan for the 'Datteln 4' power station on Thursday, following a hearing in which the city of Datteln and power plant operator Uniper argued against the ruling of the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court that declared errors in the choice of location.
- The BUND environmental association, the town of Waltrop, and several local residents have filed complaints against the development plan, stating that it is invalid.
- The 'Datteln 4' power station, a coal-fired plant that started operations in 2020, has been a source of controversy due to its environmental impact and the perceived errors in its development plan.
- The power station supplies approximately a third of its electricity to Deutsche Bahn and the rest to the electricity market, as well as providing district heating to the town of Datteln.
- Should the Federal Administrative Court rule in favor of the plaintiffs, this would not immediately impact the power station's operations, as it currently operates under an immission control permit, the validity of which is also being challenged in a separate court case.
- The 'Datteln 4' power station's development plan has undergone several legal challenges, including a ruling by the North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Administrative Court in Münster that declared mistakes in the choice of location and declared the plan invalid.
Source: www.stern.de
