Tesla factory approved in Germany
The state of Brandenburg has approved the factory of the electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide – albeit under numerous conditions. Production should start in a few weeks.
About two years after the start of construction, Europe’s first “Giga-Factory” of the electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin is expected to start operations soon. Brandenburg’s State Office for the Environment today issued the final approval for the car factory – albeit subject to conditions. According to the state, the US company wants to fulfill these within two weeks.
The decision is “a small ray of sunshine in difficult times,” said Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke. The SPD politician spoke of a big step in the economic future of the country. “We are no longer the extended workbench of the West.” The “Giga Factory” provides numerous new jobs in the region. Around 12,000 jobs are needed in the factory in the first phase. Around 3,000 people are currently employed at the Tesla plant.
Decision contains thousands of pages
Before the first e-cars roll off the assembly line, Tesla still has to meet a few requirements. The approval is subject to more than 400 conditions – for example, drinking water protection and air pollution control. For example, Tesla must regularly measure the air quality and present a concept for preventing incidents. The approval notice comprises 535 pages, plus 23,700 pages as an annex. That would correspond to the load of a small truck, said Environment Minister Axel Vogel from the Greens. Overall, objections from more than 800 people and organizations were examined. “This approval process was a mammoth task for us.”
Quarrel over water
Conservationists and residents see the water supply in danger with the settlement. Part of the site is in a water protection area. Tesla has dismissed the concerns and lowered planned water usage. A legal dispute is raging over the funding from the Eggersdorf waterworks, which also supplies Tesla. The administrative court in Frankfurt (Oder) heard on Friday about a lawsuit brought by the Green League and the Brandenburg Nature Conservation Union against the approval of additional water withdrawal. The Strausberg-Erkner water association has announced that it will terminate the supply contract with Tesla if the water permit is revoked.
Start of production delayed by several months
Tesla actually wanted to start production in mid-2021. The approval for the factory had recently been postponed again and again, partly because the company had added plans for its own battery factory to its application. Tesla built the plant at its own risk with 19 early approvals, although the final approval was missing. In a first phase, up to 500,000 cars per year are to be manufactured in Grünheide. Tesla also wants to build new types of batteries at the site of its first European “giga factory”.
