Giga Berlin Approval imminent
Brandenburg authorities have confirmed that the approval process for vehicle production at Gigafactory Berlin is in the final stages. And that production could start as early as this week.
Tesla had originally planned for the cutting-edge factory to have begun production and delivery of vehicles in July of 2021, but the German state’s bureaucracy held back the approval process for months - much to CEO Elon Musk’s chagrin.
Giga Berlin is the largest industrial and green energy transition project in Germany, something even more important with the very real possibility of the country being forced to disassociate from Russian fuel sources.
Perhaps building on recent events, last week Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke reportedly met with a special task force for the Tesla project, in order to facilitate agreements on the many environmental approvals needed to move the licensing process forward.
In particular, the factory’s water supply had been a sticking point; as the region is apparently short of groundwater. However, Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach has approved of the current plan, saying:
“The current water supply is sufficient for the first stage of the factory. Once Tesla expands the site, we’ll need more.”
And as the factory plans to use about 1.4 million cubic meters of water annually, it makes sense that Brandenburg authorities would be making sure they could support demand that amounts to about 40,000 extra people.
However despite the setbacks, Tesla has continued construction and testing of the Model Y, building over 2000 bodies for testing. And now, with approval on the horizon, Giga Berlin has reportedly been churning out hundreds of their 2170-equipped Model Ys.
And that’s not the only preparations that are moving along with the looming license approval. Tesla is reportedly planning a big Grand Opening event on March 22nd or 23rd to give out the first 30 or so Model Ys to customers. Elon Musk is likely to be there, and the Brandenburg Police are preparing for an estimated 500 guests invited to the event.