The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is a step closer after Germany ruled that a two-kilometre stretch can be laid in May.
Environmental groups had complained that the pipeline would threaten bird species in the area and had filed several lawsuits against the controversial project.
But Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg granted the permit for the “safe continuation” of works.
The two kilometres of the pipeline due after May will be laid on the seabed in the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Groups including the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) took the case to court in January, citing resting birds in the German Baltic Sea, and halted construction.
But the BSH said they had immediately granted the permit after “careful consideration of all interests”.
In a statement, the agency said that the pipeline would have no significant impact on nature conservation once work resumed.
“Due to the end of the resting period … and the peripheral location of this short section, no significant adverse effects on protected bird species and the conservation objectives of the Pomeranian Bay bird sanctuary are to be expected,” said BSH President Dr Karin Kammann-Klippstein.
Environmental campaigners have indicated that they will appeal against the decision to the Hamburg Administrative Court.
Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Federal Executive Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe, said the decision went against “all common sense in climate policy”.
Nord Stream 2 is currently still be built in Danish waters, with work there nearing completion.
The controversial natural gas pipeline from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany has been one of the main points of contention in German-American relations for years.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Euronews that the project is a “bad idea” and a bad deal for Europe.
“It undermines basic EU principles in terms of energy security and energy independence,” Blinken said, “it poses a challenge to Ukraine, to Poland, to other countries that we care about.”
Following the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, MEPs also called for an immediate halt on the infrastructure project, which is 95% completed.
