The approval granted by the Lüneburg State Trade Supervisory Office on 1 November 2023 for the construction and operation of a landside LNG terminal at the site in Stade is lawful. This was decided by the Federal Administrative Court in the first and last instance (Ref.: 7 A 3.24 of 27 March 2025). The Lüneburg State Trade Supervisory Office was represented by DOMBERT Rechtsanwälte in the proceedings.

The action was brought by the Lower Saxony branch of the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz (BUND). In particular, it claimed that the operation of the LNG terminal should not have been permitted until 31 December 2043, as there was no energy industry need for this and it was not compatible with the constitutional requirement of climate protection. In addition, the operator had not provided evidence that the terminal could be re-utilised with liquefied ammonia. Furthermore, there were also violations in the area of plant safety and nature conservation law.

The Federal Administrative Court dismissed the claim. The licensing authority is not permitted to order the termination of LNG-based terminal operations earlier than the date of 31 December 2043 specified in the LNG Acceleration Act. The existence of an energy industry need until the end of this period is irrelevant. The constitutional climate protection requirement also does not prevent the authorisation of operation until 2043. The operator has sufficiently demonstrated that the terminal can be converted to operate with liquefied ammonia at a later date. The court was also unable to recognise any violations of plant safety regulations or nature conservation law.