As of: March 26, 2024, 9:58 p.m
By: Paula Völkner
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At the ceremony to mark the start of construction on the Northvolt battery factory, the presence of the traffic light politicians caused protests and an attempt at a blockade.
Heide - In the communities of Norderwöhrden and Lohe-Rickelshof, the start of construction on one of the most modern battery factories in the world, the Northvolt battery factory, was celebrated on Monday.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) also met in Heide for the groundbreaking ceremony on Monday (March 25).
The presence of the traffic light politicians caused protests.
On the morning of the ceremony to mark the start of construction, around 40 people with tractors and cars had gathered near the site where the factory is to be built, NDR
reported
.
According to the police, there were 50 tractors and a total of 150 demonstrators on site at midday when the politicians made their way to the site.
Swedish Ambassador Veronika Wand-Danielsson (lr), Prime Minister Daniel Günther, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson and Managing Director Christopher Haux at the start of construction.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Farmers tried to disrupt the event by honking tractor horns.
According to NDR
, the demonstrators said
their protest was explicitly not directed against the construction of the factory, but against the traffic light government.
Videos were also published on the
online platform X
showing how a vehicle tried to block the government representatives' cars - but without success.
According to a video, the vehicles only took a small detour over the adjacent grass strip.
The groundbreaking ceremony was able to take place largely undisturbed and the horns became background sound, as the
Kieler Nachrichten
reported.
Northern region wind power for environmentally friendly batteries
Northvolt is a Swedish company that was founded in 2016 by former Tesla employees Peter Carlsson and Paolo Cerruti, among others.
Once completed, the company's factory will produce battery cells for a million electric cars.
The factory will be built on 110 hectares of land.
Northvolt boss Peter Carlsson described the planned factory in a company statement as a “showcase project for the global climate change,” reported the
afp
news agency .
Northvolt says it wants to produce the “world’s most environmentally friendly batteries” by using the region’s wind power.
The new factory is expected to create 3,000 new jobs, with production scheduled to start in 2026.
Habeck also highlighted the new jobs during his visit to Heide and called the planned factory “a lighthouse example of how we can positively shape the environmentally and climate-friendly restructuring of our value chains.”
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The federal and state governments are investing over 900 million euros in the Northvolt project
There is criticism, albeit cautious, of the project itself. For example, of the lack of infrastructure so far.
The news agency afp
reported that it is not yet certain whether the necessary rail infrastructure through which the factory will be connected to the German transport network can be implemented by 2026
.
Moritz Schularick, President of the Institute for the World Economy (IfW), criticized the high state subsidies.
On Monday, he said in a comment at the groundbreaking ceremony: "Northvolt's investment would probably have been worthwhile even with far fewer subsidies, which only makes the shareholders happy." The money is now missing elsewhere, said Schularick.
With 700 million euros in funding and 202 million euros in guarantees, Germany is supporting the project with a total of 902 million euros.
At the ceremony marking the start of construction, Scholz emphasized the “strategic importance” of such projects.
The production of good cars remains “the backbone of our industry, even beyond the combustion engine,” said the Chancellor.
(pav)