Berlin The relief was almost tangible that Friday afternoon in the Potsdam State Chancellery. “A mammoth task” was the immission control approval process for the factory of the US electrical manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide, Brandenburg, said Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD).
Now it’s done: The responsible State Office for the Environment (LfU) has finally given the green light for the construction of the Gigafactory – albeit subject to conditions. “We’re a bit happy and proud that we made it,” said Woidke.
The project is considered one of the most important industrial projects in East Germany. The economy in the region spoke of a “milestone for Brandenburg”. The effects on industry, jobs and prosperity in the capital region cannot be overestimated, said the deputy general manager of the Association of Business Associations in Berlin and Brandenburg (UVB), Alexander Schirp. “All of a sudden, Brandenburg is one of the most important automotive locations in Germany.”
The decision has already been given to Tesla and includes the production of up to 500,000 vehicles per year, aluminum smelting plants and an aluminum foundry, facilities for surface treatment, heat generation and storage.
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The plant also includes battery cell production, an operational wastewater treatment plant, a fire brigade equipment house, a high-bay warehouse, as well as laboratories and workshops.
Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (centre) with Ministers Jörg Steinbach (left) and Axel Vogel.
(Photo: dpa)
The State Chancellery describes the approval process as a “procedure that is unusual in several respects”. In a comparatively short time, not only a factory, but an entire industrial area with several large plants and repeated public participation was checked and approved. The procedure was opened on January 3, 2020.
Criticism of environmental compatibility
Company boss Elon Musk had originally hoped to start production in Grünheide in mid-2021. However, the approval had been postponed in recent months, partly because the company had added the construction and operation of a battery factory to its application.
After the updated motion was laid out, the discussion of hundreds of objections from critics began. Conservationists and local residents fear environmental damage and consider the water supply to be at risk.
Part of the site is in a water protection area. Tesla has dismissed the concerns and lowered planned water usage.
>> Read also: Record speed despite setbacks: How Tesla and Brandenburg outsmarted the bureaucracy
The approval documents, including the associated application documents, expert opinions and statements, comprise more than 23,700 pages in 66 files. It contains around 80 pages of more than 400 requirements and conditions that the car manufacturer must meet.
Brandenburg’s Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) emphasized: “Approval does not mean commissioning.” The conditions include, among other things, requirements for groundwater protection as well as water-saving and wastewater-reducing measures, species protection specifications, limit values for air pollutants and regulations for their measurement as well as occupational safety requirements. At Tesla, it was said that the company wanted to process the requirements “as quickly as possible”.
According to Minister Vogel, Tesla wants to have fulfilled the requirements in two weeks. That is a timeframe that the company has set itself. “Our job is to ensure that everything is properly approved.”
After the approval notice, the company can continue with the further construction of the plant – objections to the project have no suspensive effect, it said on Friday.
Steinbach: Project is “pioneering”
The construction of the factory is already well advanced. A large proportion of the manufacturing facilities were built on the basis of 19 early approvals. According to the Federal Immission Control Act (paragraph 8a), an early start of measures is possible if there is nothing fundamentally against the approvability of a project and the investor implements it at his own risk.
The Brandenburg Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) sees the project as “pioneering for further projects”. Thanks to Tesla, many now know where Brandenburg can be found in the atlas. “All of a sudden, people know us,” he said.
In the past, Tesla could have up to 40,000 employees. Initially, it should be 12,000. More jobs could be created at suppliers who could settle near the Tesla factory.
According to Tesla, it had looked at more than 100 locations before deciding on Germany and Brandenburg. It is considered likely that the group will celebrate the approval big. Elon Musk could also fly in, who was last in Grünheide in autumn and welcomed around 9,000 visitors from the region to the “Open Day”.
Even if some residents are still critical – Tesla says: “We feel very comfortable here in Brandenburg.”
More: Mayor of Grünheide: Water supply for Tesla-Gigafactory is secured for the first expansion stage