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Tesla construction site in Grünheide: Start with obstacles
Photo: Patrick Pleul / dpa
Right from the start, the schedule was considered sporty: the electric car manufacturer Tesla wants to start operating its new factory in Grünheide, Brandenburg, as early as July. But now the date could be postponed by months. Tesla wanted to change the permit application for the factory, announced the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment - supplemented by the construction and operation of a system for battery cell production. It can be assumed that as a result of this change a renewed participation of the public will be necessary, said the ministry.
This participation provides that the documents can be interpreted and critics can raise objections. The Ministry of the Environment did not want to provide any information on the duration of this process until a final decision. That will only be possible at a later point in time. The ministry announced, however, that according to the Federal Immission Control Act, one month is planned for the interpretation of the documents, and another month for the objection period.
According to press reports, Brandenburg's Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) warned last week in the economic committee of the Potsdam state parliament that the start was on the brink.
The approval for the factory must be prepared and worked out in such a way that it is "resistant to contestation," the "Handelsblatt" quoted him as saying.
"Then I don't care whether it takes 14 days or four weeks or eight weeks longer."
Quality has to come before speed.
In the factory in Grünheide, up to 500,000 electric cars are expected to roll off the assembly line every year.
Large parts have already been built with preliminary approval.
Final approval is pending.
It was only at the beginning of April that Tesla complained about the slowness of the German bureaucracy.
mic / afp
