The disputes over the factory of the American electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide in Brandenburg are entering the next round.
The administrative court in Frankfurt (Oder) is hearing on Friday about lawsuits from environmental organizations that fear dangers to the water supply in the region.
Although the plant is not yet in operation, it is expected that Tesla will also receive the final approval from the State Environment Agency on Friday.
Then the company could quickly ramp up production.
The car manufacturer has already largely completed the factory on the basis of preliminary individual approvals, and trial operation is underway.
Katja Gelinsky
Business correspondent in Berlin
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Julia Loehr
Business correspondent in Berlin.
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The environmental associations, including the Brandenburg Green League, are taking legal action against the increase in water flow in the region approved by the State Environment Agency in spring 2020.
In their view, the associated risks have not been adequately examined.
It is about 3.7 million cubic meters that the water association Strausberg-Erkner (WSE) wants to remove annually.
If this approval turns out to be incorrect in the process, the supply contract that the water association has concluded with Tesla could also falter.
This provides for a supply of 1.4 million cubic meters of water per year.
The importance of the court case for the Tesla factory is controversial.
Representatives of the Brandenburg state government, above all Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD), have been repeating for months that there is no connection between the water law permit, which the administrative court will now examine, and the approval process for the Tesla factory.
The fact that the state government scheduled its press conference on the day of the court hearing should not be a coincidence.
It has long been considered certain that the factory will be approved.
The exciting question is under what conditions.
On Friday at 3.30 p.m. representatives from the state, district and municipality want to provide information.
Start of production was planned for 2021
Tesla is not involved in the court proceedings in Frankfurt (Oder).
The court had rejected the electric car manufacturer's application for additional loading.
The court argued that the outcome of the proceedings could not only affect Tesla's legal interests, but also the interests of other industrial settlements and property owners who are supplied with drinking water in the area.
But the water association Strausberg-Erkner does see a connection.
“No water – no Tesla!” he says.
The increased production volumes are a basic requirement for the contract concluded with Tesla in September 2020.
"If these are missing, the contractual basis is missing."
Tesla boss Elon Musk announced in November 2019 that his company's first factory in Europe would be built near Berlin.
At the beginning of 2020, the company submitted the application documents, and shortly thereafter the first pine trees were felled on the approximately 300-hectare site that had already been offered to a car manufacturer - at that time it was BMW - as a production site in the 1990s.
Tesla originally wanted to start production in July 2021.
The fact that the start was delayed was partly due to the long discussion with opponents of the project.
Hundreds of objections had to be examined.
Then Tesla added a battery cell factory to the building application, which started the approval process all over again, including a new hearing, this time in virtual form.