Another switch has been made for the controversial construction of the tesla factory near berlin.
The strausberg-erkner water board approved the development application for the plant. The decision was made possible because tesla had reduced its water requirements in the permit application and the authorities had approved additional water withdrawals, the association said. Previously, RBB had reported.
Critics fear, among other things, negative consequences for nature and groundwater as a result of the construction of the gigafactory and also warn of immense water consumption. As recently as june, the water board had not issued a positive forecast for the permit, according to documents obtained by dpa. In july, the head of the association warned internally that there would be too little drinking water if the expansion continued. The state government had stated that it considered the problems to be solvable. Tesla meanwhile reduced its forecast water consumption at the peak from 3.3 million to around 1.4 million cubic meters a year.
This wednesday, critics will meet with the state environmental agency, which is responsible for environmental permitting, at an open hearing. There are 406 formal objections to the factory, which will be debated at the meeting in erkner. Tesla then wants to clear one of the last hurdles for the final approval.
It remains to be seen when the green light will be given for the project. Tesla builds to date on advance authorizations for individual construction steps. In grunheide near berlin, from next summer onwards, an initial 500.000 electric cars per year with around 12.000 employees will be built. Tesla boss elon musk also plans to manufacture batteries there.