Tesla gets first partial approval for Grünheide expansion

According to the local Ministry of the Environment, the first partial permit includes, among other things, a “further large hall to accommodate the additional production units” and “modifications and optimisation of the production facilities already constructed.” In other words, the measures from this partial authorisation will enable Tesla to ramp up production in Grünheide.

However, it is not clear from the press release how many cars Tesla could build at its Gigafactory 4 once the approved work has been completed. The Environment Ministry merely repeats the long-known statement that Tesla intends to increase production capacity from 500,000 to one million vehicles per year “in the future.” In the report for the second quarter of 2024, Tesla stated an unchanged production capacity of 375,000 cars per year for Giga Berlin – currently, it only builds the Model Y at the plant, including the new seven-seater version for Europe.

The current partial authorisation only affects areas that Tesla already owns – so no further clearing is currently planned or required. “No land will be taken up in the neighbouring area of development plan 60, where the protest camp of the ‘Stop Tesla’ initiative is currently located,” says the ministry.

Specifically, it concerns five measures:

• the expansion of production buildings without the construction of production facilities such as Battery Pack 2 and Drive 2 production,
• the rescheduling and relocation of auxiliary facilities such as the centralised disposal system for solid waste and a temporary waste storage facility,
• the construction of structural infrastructure for the supply and auxiliary facilities and their operation, such as a combined storage building for the storage of materials, a laboratory for battery cell tests, storage for liquid and hazardous waste, a recycling centre for cell carrier and battery waste,
• Construction and operation of temporary facilities, including a hazardous materials warehouse, delivery centre, and company medical centre, construction and operation of infrastructure facilities such as logistics areas,
• temporary car parks.

The current partial authorisation has a long history. Tesla actually submitted the modification permit application to the State Office for the Environment on 15 March 2023 to start the expansion of the plant. At the same time, an application was submitted to divide the entire modification project into several partial authorisation sections.

But even this first partial authorisation, which has now been granted, only confirms work already underway. Tesla had already received preliminary approval in July to begin construction work on the large hall and optimise the existing facilities ahead of schedule. However, if the immission control approval procedure had turned out differently, Tesla would have had to cancel the work based on the pre-approval.

mluk.brandenburg.de (in German)