Berlin – Elon Musk wasn’t there. The US billionaire was absent from Potsdam on Friday afternoon when Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) announced the final approval for the first European factory of the electric car manufacturer Tesla: 12,000 jobs are at stake and 500,000 electric cars “Made in Grünheide” are at stake. , which are to roll out of the world’s fourth Tesla gigafactory every year.
It was a strange appointment in Potsdam. Usually the building permit is granted first and then construction begins. But with Elon Musk and his Tesla group everything is a little different. Since December, cars have been built there on a trial basis in the almost finished factory, and now the building permit is coming.
“A little ray of sunshine in difficult times”
Woidke said: “We worked hard together: The approval notice was handed over to Tesla today.” He also referred to the war in Ukraine and said: “I see the decision today as a small ray of sunshine in difficult times. I see it as an important step for the state of Brandenburg.”
The process was a mammoth task. Woidke even got really pathetic and said: March 4, 2022 was a step for Brandenburg that would probably only become clear in a few months how important it was. Maybe years or decades from now. “There will be a time before Tesla and a time with Tesla,” he said. It is the third largest car factory in Germany. “It’s a very, very good day for the state of Brandenburg and also a good day for Germany.”
Woidke said: “We are the land of renewable energies.” So far, this has not really paid off when it comes to settlements, but now it has. Because that was important to Musk. “We can produce climate-neutral products in Brandenburg in a climate-neutral manner,” said the Prime Minister. He also praised the typical “Brandenburg restraint” and spoke of humility. He means that at the very beginning, no one leaked the secret Tesla plans and might have prevented the settlement.
Woidke speaks of a new chapter in economic and industrial development in Brandenburg. “For the first time, value chains are being built up again here, and we are not just the extended workbench of the West.”
The copycat effect
Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach spoke of a milestone and reports that other interested parties are now also reporting. “Before there were investors who didn’t even know where Brandenburg was,” he said. “All of a sudden, people know us. We should face these challenges.”
He says that Tesla is not an isolated major project, but that there are imitation effects. “I associate this with the hope that we as a country will crawl up from the bottom basement in terms of economic power.”
Ulrich Stock from the State Environment Agency said that the approval has no time limit, but applies indefinitely. Before Tesla can start production, the group still needs an operating license. “Evidence that all requirements are met is required for the operating license,” said Stock. “That’s Tesla’s job.” The group set itself a deadline of two weeks for this. Then there should be an acceptance.
For example, Tesla still has to present a concept for preventing accidents, as well as evidence of the suitability of the materials used and structural test evidence. “The most important point, however, is that all the measuring devices needed to monitor the system are installed,” said Stock. For example air quality.
Not on the phone with Musk
Tesla keeps talking about further expansion stages for the factory. But they are not up to date. “So far, no further documents for Tesla expansions have been submitted,” said Ulrich Stock.
Woidke and Steinbach said they talked to Musk from time to time. But not in the past few days directly. Environment Minister Axel Vogel (Greens) said: “I’ve never had contact with Mr. Musk.” He emphasized that the country had prepared for the announced legal dispute with the environmental associations. “The central benchmark has always been legal certainty,” he said. “It always came before speed.” Employees of the authority could also have made a mistake in the procedure and this approval could now also be subjected to a judicial review. But he is certain: “If the decision is complained about, it will remain stable,” said Vogel.
Always delays
The decision-makers can say that they have taken their time. Because Musk actually wanted to start production last summer. Then December 2021, then January 2022, then February. Now production could start at the end of March.
Experts say: The delays of the past few weeks are mainly due to Tesla itself. Usually, a company with a large investment of more than one billion euros submits a complete application. Here, however, the authorities had to repeatedly request files, data and applications. In between there were construction stops, individual Tesla plans had to be made public again and a public hearing had to be repeated.
dpa / Patrick Pleul
Elon Musk im Augst 2021 in Grünheide.
Tesla submitted 20 individual applications for 20 construction phases, all of which were approved. The critics of the location in a water protection area speak of “Lex Tesla”. You say that the state government really wanted to bring the largest industrial investment in East Germany to Brandenburg, which is why the US carmaker was given special legal treatment by the authorities. The government denies that.
Approval is one thing. The other is whether Tesla could be stranded. On Friday – a few hours before the announcement date in Potsdam – a hearing began at the administrative court in Frankfurt (Oder). Environmental groups sued the State Environment Agency, which also issued the building permit. It had allowed the regional water association to pump more water – wrongly, say the associations. The association was only able to sign the delivery contract with Tesla due to the higher quantities. The association had announced that it would terminate the contract if the court found the environmentalists right.
The court has not yet decided. Nevertheless, planning continues: Because Elon Musk is said to have announced himself for the opening party in Grünheide. Either on March 22nd or on March 23rd