The Brandenburg Minister of Economics Jörg Steinbach (SPD) expects Tesla to start building its factory in Grünheide in March. The Ministry of Economic Affairs confirmed that the groundbreaking for the electric car factory is expected in the second half of the month. Previously she had Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported about it. However, there is no date yet, said Tesla spokeswoman Kathrin Schira. Elon Musk, head of Tesla, answered when asked if he would be laying the cornerstone: “Definitely”.
Objections to the factory at the State Office for the Environment in Potsdam, in the town halls Grünheide and Erkner or in the Office Spreenhagen are still possible until Thursday. So far, it is planned to discuss the objections on March 18. “The final approval should be available by summer if possible,” said Steinbach. Then lawsuits must be expected again. In his view, the probability is 90 percent that the factory will come. Tesla had already invested too much in the project, he said.
Early start of construction is possible and not uncommon, even if Tesla has not yet received all permits. In such cases, the investor acts at his own risk. If the project is rejected, he must restore the original state.
The majority of the Brandenburgers support the construction of the Gigafactory
According to a Forsa survey commissioned by Markish general the majority of Brandenburgers favor the settlement of Tesla. Accordingly, 82 percent are in favor of the planned factory for electric cars. According to the survey, only 15 percent are against it. 62 percent also assume that Brandenburg “benefits” economically from the factory. 32 percent believe that the region and country benefit “somewhat” from the company.
Only 34 percent showed understanding for the actions of several environmental groups that had temporarily stopped clearing the forest on the Tesla property. After urgent requests by the environmental association Green League Brandenburg and the Association for Landscape Management and Species Protection in Bavaria to stop the clearing at the administrative court in Frankfurt (Oder) were rejected, the Green League lodged an appeal. Thereupon the Higher Administrative Court Berlin-Brandenburg forbade the cases for the time being.
On February 20, the court withdrew the decision. In its reasoning, it stated that the legal requirements for the early start of construction of the plant had been rightly affirmed. The competent authority did not have to wait until March for the period for the public participation to expire, because it had the necessary knowledge to assess whether the project was likely to be approved. The decision of February 20 is not contestable.
There are currently four trees on the site where bats are currently hibernating. “The landlord waits until it wakes up from its natural winter churn and leaves the trees,” said the Tesla spokeswoman. It was a natural process that was not influenced.
Tesla plans to build up to 500,000 electric cars a year in the Gigafactory. The first vehicle should roll off the assembly line in 2021. The US group plans to invest several billion euros in this.
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