The US electric car manufacturer Tesla is to change its plans for the expansion of the battery factory in Grünheide near Berlin according to the will of the Brandenburg State Environment Agency.
The planned production of battery cells in a new building is partly in a water protection zone, the authority said in a statement on Tesla’s application to expand the car factory. “The same applies to the process wastewater recycling plant.” The “Tagesspiegel” reported on Tuesday. The State Office for the Environment speaks of insurmountable obstacles to partial approval.
Tesla replied that the expansion of battery cell production was not the subject of the first application for a partial expansion permit. Tesla also sees no problems with the water treatment: the recycling of the water from the production process is carried out by converting an already approved plant for the treatment of waste water, the company said. The wastewater treatment plants for future expansions should be placed outside the water protection area.
Tesla wants to expand its electric car plant in Grünheide in Brandenburg. According to the company, the goal is to double production capacity from 500,000 cars, which has not yet been achieved, to one million cars a year. 22,500 employees are planned for this expansion of production. Tesla is submitting applications in three parts for environmental approval to the state of Brandenburg. Around 11,000 employees currently work in Grünheide and produce around 250,000 vehicles a year. Environmentalists and conservationists see dangers because part of the factory is located in the water protection area.
Tesla shares are temporarily down 0.35 percent on the NASDAQ at $268.13.
/vr/DP/he/p>
GREEN HEATH (dpa-AFX)
Image sources: Nadezda Murmakova / Shutterstock.com, Sergio Monti Photography / Shutterstock.com