In the German state of Brandenburg, Tesla’s European Gigafactory is due to open this year. The Minister of Economy of Brandenburg is looking forward to this, is not concerned about the delay and sees it as an important boost for the Land.
The Tesla factory in Grünheide, Germany, is quite busy. It is an enormous structure that is rising on a place where nature activists, wildlife conservationists and local residents have already delayed several times. There were concerns about the fauna, the environmental impact and the nuisance. This week there was another worrying report: important buildings would be behind schedule and not all necessary permits have been completed. Jörg Steinbach, the Minister of Economy of the Land of Brandenburg, explains Automotive News that he suspects the delay is not too bad. He says he is ‘completely confident’ that sooner or later everything will be fine. He does not know whether the factory will actually be operational in July, but ‘there are no signs from Tesla that this will not work’.
According to Steinbach, it is a good thing that everything is scrutinized when it comes to legally arranging the construction properly. ‘Better good than fast’, seems to be the motto. Once the factory is up and running, Steinbach foresees good prospects for ‘his’ Brandenburg. “There are more applications for potential investments in Brandenburg than ever. And that during a pandemic,” said the 64-year-old. According to him, there are many companies that would like to link up around the factory and a kind of ‘EV hub’ could arise for Western Europe. Companies that are probably not only interested in what Tesla does, but are also happy to respond to the growing demand for electric cars. It would be a nice change for Brandenburg, which is located around Berlin. The area in the former GDR has never again become the bustling industrial area it once was since World War II.