Last week, the Danish Environmental and Food Complaints Board rejected the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's environmental permit for the Baltic Pipe project, as the permit had been granted before it had been sufficiently clarified how, for example, dormice, birch mice and bats and their breeding and resting areas would be protected during the work.
Therefore, Energinet must temporarily put the brakes on and shut down work on the project until there is a new report and permit, which the Danish Environmental Protection Agency will be responsible for. However, it is still unclear when work can resume.
- We are in close dialogue with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency on how we can obtain the necessary permits and get clarification as soon as possible on how the work can continue. As soon as we can clearly announce the consequences, we will do so, says Marian Kaagh, Deputy Director and Head of Energinet's Construction Projects Department.
There are of course many questions from those who are laying land for the project and their neighbours, who are directly affected by the project. The project has already been hit by delays on Zealand. Last year, Energinet decided to compensate the affected landowners.
- Understandably, we are facing a lot of questions about what this means for the schedule, finances, compensation and much more – not least questions from the many who are laying land for the gas pipeline or are neighbours, and from the users of the future gas pipeline. We would really like to answer all questions and minimize the uncertainty that naturally arises from the decision on the environmental permit.
210 km long workplace
However, it is not just like that to shut down work on a project the size of the Baltic Pipe.
- We have a 210 km long construction site across Denmark, and we can't just jump out of the excavators and leave the construction sites. We have to shut down in a safe manner, and therefore there will still be people working in several different places on the stretch, says Marian Kaagh.
That is why Energinet is now starting to ensure that the construction sites are closed down safely until work can resume when permission is granted for the project again.
- We must ensure that no one is harmed - both those working on the project and the people who live and travel along the construction sites. We must also ensure that it is done in an environmentally sound manner, so that we do not inadvertently cause damage with an abrupt shutdown, for example if we stopped in the middle of working to cross a watercourse instead of completing the crossing, says Marian Kaagh.
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