Pipelines

Approvals are required under the German regulations governing activities in the waters and airspace of the German continental shelf.

Approval procedure:

Applications for approval should be submitted with enclosed documentation describing the type and scope of the project and, in particular, possible impairments of objects of legal protection (life, health, property, public interests). Important public interests are, e.g., the operation and effectiveness of facilities for shipping and aids to navigation, use of shipping routes and airspace, navigation, fisheries, flora and fauna, the laying, operation, and maintenance of submarine cables and pipelines as well as oceanographic and other scientific research, health of the ocean, and the security of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The applications and enclosed documentation are passed on to other agencies involved in the approval process (28 Regional Waterways and Shipping Directorates, Federal Research Centre for Fisheries, Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Naval Support Command, and other cable and pipeline operators) which comment on the project, pointing out in particular any detrimental effects that may result from it.

Approval has to be denied if an impairment of objects of legal protection or of overriding public interests cannot be prevented or compensated by additional provisions in the approval.

After an approval has been granted, the project is subject to supervision by the BSH, which may issue orders to ensure proper implementation if required. Federal officials (of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration, Federal Border Guard, customs and fisheries supervising authorities) carry out on-site supervision to ensure compliance with the orders.

The additionally required approval covering mining interests is granted by the mining authorities for the following areas:

North Sea:

Baltic Sea:

Existing pipelines:

The transit pipelines NORPIPE, EUROPIPE I, and EUROPIPE II which have been laid across the German North Sea continental shelf transport natural gas from Norwegian gasfields to Germany. Their landfall points are the Emden and Dornum terminals on the coast of Lower Saxony..

The transit pipelines ZEEPIPE and FRANPIPE crossing the German continental shelf have landfalls in Belgium (Zeebrügge) and France (Dunkirk).

Approval Procedures for pipelines:

Currently BSH is carrying out approval procedures for two gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea: The "Nord Stream Gas Pipeline" is planned to transit the German EEZ south of Bornholm and shall then be built through the Greifswalder Bodden until the landfall at Lubmin. The "Baltic Gas Interconnector" is planned to land on the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania near Dierhagen.

Maps