BK7-22-140 Ruling Chamber 7 proceedings

Ruling Chamber 7 opened proceedings on an exemption from regulation in accordance with section 28a of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG) in conjunction with section 51 of the Administrative Procedure Act (VwVfG) with the reference BK7-22-140 following an application by German LNG Terminal GmbH. German LNG Terminal GmbH plans to build and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal with an annual throughput capacity of 10 bn m³/a at its site in Brunsbüttel.

On 15 March 2023, Ruling Chamber 7 revoked the final exemption decision of 21 June 2021 for an annual throughput capacity of 8 bn m³/a (BK7-18-063-final) at German LNG Terminal GmbH's request in accordance with section 51 VwVfG and issued an exemption in response to a new application for an annual throughput capacity totalling 10 bn m³/a for a limited period of 20 years from the start of commercial operations. Further secondary provisions are attached to the exemption; most importantly, these provisions lay down rules and mechanisms for the management and allocation of capacity as referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 36(6) of Directive 2009/73/EC and thus guarantee permanent access to the LNG facility.

On 2 June 2023, the European Commission issued a decision (C(2023) 3743 final). The decision confirms the duration and scope of the original exemption. At the same time, the European Commission required the Bundesnetzagentur to change some points of its decision in accordance with Article 36(9) of Directive 2009/73/EC, in particular to shorten the exemption period to 15 years and to include a clause on a competitive market test. The European Commission's decision is binding in its entirety for the Bundesnetzagentur. Pursuant to Article 36(9) of Directive 2009/73/EC, the amendments required in the European Commission's decision must be implemented within a period of one month. The European Commission decision has been published in a non-confidential version in German and English on the Commission website here (Access to infrastructure, exemptions and derogations (europa.eu)). Only the German version is binding.

The Bundesnetzagentur has implemented the European Commission's decision of 2 June 2023 in accordance with section 28a(3) EnWG and Article 36(9) of Directive 2009/73/EC and, on 19 June 2023, revoked the original exemption decision of 15 March 2023 and reissued it with the amendments required by the European Commission. A non-confidential version of the final exemption decision issued on 19 June 2023 (BK7-22-140-final) has been published.

A non-confidential version of Ruling Chamber 7's original exemption decision of 15 March 2023 (BK7-22-140) has also been published.

Original exemption

BK7-22-140_Beschluss vom 15.03.2023 (PDF / 35 MB) (German)

Final Decision

BK7-22-140_Beschluss_final vom 19.06.2023 (PDF / 23 MB) (German)
BK7-22-140_Beschluss_final_EN vom 19.06.2023 (PDF / 5 MB) (English)

BK7-22-140