Regional broadcaster RBB reports this online, citing an internal letter from the Strauss-Erkner (WSE) water association. At the heart of the problem are unsigned contracts and future estimations.
But to the beginning: German authorities in Brandenburg had greenlighted Tesla to lay the foundations for the planned plant in Grünheide just a week ago – and despite the full environmental permit still pending. The Californians have been struggling with the permits since months, after environmental group’s objected, forcing Tesla to redraft the planning permission. One concern was the water consumption of the factory, and Tesla reduced the planned water consumption in the application documents.
This reduction, however, is what concerns the WSE. The association itself relies on permits from the state of Brandeburg, which are currently sufficient to cover the water requirements for the Gigafactory announced by Tesla. However, the WSE expects the Gigafactory to attract new people and companies to the area, so that by the end of 2022 at the latest, more water would be needed than the 15 million cubic meters permitted today. So the struggle is with the state to allow WSE to pump more water, the RBB quotes 3 million more cubic meters.
