Following a legal challenge brought by Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration and thirteen municipalities in the Haut-Rhin department, the Nancy Administrative Court of Appeal overturned the decree of July 12, 2024, by which the Minister for Industry and Energy granted Vulcan 锟絥ergie France an exclusive five-year permit to explore for geothermal resources. However, the court rejected the appeals filed by the local authorities against the ministerial decree granting the company an exclusive permit to explore for lithium mines.
On February 27, 2023, Vulcan Energie France applied to the Minister for Industry and Energy for a permit to explore for geothermal deposits and lithium mines. By two decrees dated July 12, 2024, the Minister of the Economy granted these permits for an area of approximately 463 km锟� located near Mulhouse.
The Mulhouse Alsace Agglomeration community and thirteen municipalities challenged these decisions before the Strasbourg Administrative Court and then the Nancy Administrative Court of Appeal.
In its decisions today, the court rejected the appeals of local authorities against the decree granting Vulcan 锟絥ergie France an exclusive permit for lithium exploration.
The court specifically dismissed the applicants' criticisms regarding the size of the permit and noted that the company justified its extent by the need to conduct analyses and studies of the subsoil and to collect exhaustive geophysical data in order, in particular, to measure the seismic risks that could result from drilling at very great depths and to optimize its future location for the extraction of lithium.
On the other hand, with regard to the permit for geothermal energy exploration, the court finds that the texts providing for the publication of a notice of competitive bidding in the Official Journal of the European Union have been disregarded.
She further notes that although exchanges have been organised with some of the municipalities included in the perimeter of the project, no prior consultation with the public has however been organised by the company Vulcan Energie France within the perimeter of the exclusive research permit for which it has requested the issuance.
Therefore, the court annuls the minister's order granting Vulcan 锟絥ergie France an exclusive permit to explore for geothermal deposits for a period of five years.
An appeal to the Council of State may be lodged within two months.