Construction of Tesla's Berlin Gigafactory approved despite environmental protests
By Caoimhe Toman
Date: Friday 21 Feb 2020
(Sharecast News) - A German court gave Tesla the green light to cut down trees to build its new European Gigafactory despite protests from environmental activists.
The plant still doesn't have planning permission to build the so-called Gigafactory in Brandenburg but the local government agency overseeing the project gave it permission to clear 92 hectares of forest land in Gruenheide.
This led to opposition from environmental campaigners that managed to get their complaint to the higher administrative court of Berlin and Brandenburg that issued an injunction to temporarily halt the preparatory work.
The court, which oversees the region in which Tesla plans on building its new plant, on Thursday decided to throw out the injunction.
The company said it had addressed environmental concerns and would replant trees to cover an area "three times the factory plot."
Tesla plans to begin construction of the facility this year and is looking to begin vehicle production by 2021.
The region's economy minister has argued that the forest needs to be cleared by mid-March, otherwise work risks being delayed by as much as nine months.
Two-thirds of the land had already been cleared before the work was stopped, according to Bloomberg.
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