Court orders halt to Tesla's Berlin gigafactory construction

Electric vehicle and energy storage giant Tesla has been ordered by a German court to cease all preparation work on the site of its first European Gigafactory near Berlin while it considers an appeal from environmental groups.

Tesla founder, CEO and CTO Elon Musk announced last November that his company would construct its €3.7-billion base of operations in Europe just outside the German capital. However, plans to begin building on the 300-hectare site have been hampered by environmental protesters who say that Tesla's activities could pollute drinking water.

Protesters are voicing their concerns over chemical pollution and water usage in a region that has for decades suffered from low rainfall. Tesla has said the plant's water consumption could be as much as 372 cubic metres per hour, a volume that some believe would severely deplete the local lakes.

Steffen Schorcht, the founder of the 'Initiative Against the Gigafactory', has accused polticians of misleading both the locals and Tesla.

“The politicians know how explosive this water topic is, and have tried to play it down, both to Tesla and the inhabitants,” he told Die Zeit.

Grüne Liga Brandenburg (Green League Brandenburg) has also said that the deforestation of 92 hectares of pine trees at the Grünheide site, 38 km (24 miles) to the east of Berlin, is a threat to the local wildlife including bat colonies and ant hills.

“To fell half of the forest, when many aspects of this process are yet to be clarified seems fairly problematic, which is why we have asked the court to deal with it,” said Heinz-Herwig Mascher of Grüne Liga.

“It is not that we have something as such against Tesla as a company or its objectives. But we are concerned the preferential treatment they’re being given could set a precedence.”

In responding to the allegation, Tesla says that its plans also include replanting trees over an area triple the size of the Gigafactory.

The local wing of the anti-immigrant political party AfD (Alternativ für Deutschland) have said that the project will not be of huge benefit to German locals and that Tesla would provide buses for lower paid workers from nearby Poland.

Another concern is over unexploded ordnance from the second world war. A total of 85 kg of bombs and munitions have been discovered at the site and detonated.

The court has now ordered that all activity on the site must be suspended as it considers the appeal, believed to have been lodged by the Green League.

Germany's economy minister Peter Altmaier said earlier this week that any lengthy delays could threaten the Gigafactory's go-ahead. The factory is expected to produce 500,000 electric vehicles annually and create around 12,000 jobs.

According to local media reports, the 8,000 or so residents in Grünheide are divided over the issue of the plant's construction. The region has repeatedly missed out on large investment opportunities since reunification. 

At pro-Tesla counter-demonstrations, some locals were calling for a sense of pride in the role the small town could play in a low-carbon future if it were to host Tesla's Gigafactory. 

Tesla plans to build its Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossover SUV at the facility.

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