Tesla Giga Berlin Gets Early Building Permit For Foundation Work

Featured Image Credit: @GF4Tesla/Twitter

Tesla Giga Berlin was granted an early building permit by the State Environment Agency. The permit allows Tesla to lay the foundations of its Gigafactory in Grünheide.

According to MOZ, the State Environment Agency in Grünheide issued the permit on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Before news of the permit surfaced, Tesla prepared test piles for a load test, and more containers appeared on the site, noted Giga Berlin drone-operator @GF4Tesla. The work being done now will likely build a strong foundation for Giga Berlin Phase 1, which will probably house the production line for the made-in-Germany Model Y. 

The early building permit allows Tesla to lay the foundation, place pipelines and supports, and dig excavation pits. The US EV automaker was also allowed to compact areas for building materials it will store on-site.  

Tesla will have to follow certain stipulations set by State Environment Agency for the permit. First, all of Tesla's construction work must take place above the aquifier, presumably found under the site where Giga Berlin's Phase 1 building will be set. An aquifier is an underground layer of rock, sand, or gravel that collects or absorbs water. 

Environmental Agency approves foundation work from GigaBerlin. 📃

The State Environmental Agency gives the green light for the foundation work 👍 👷‍♂️ 🏗https://t.co/ycKtveUJ66 pic.twitter.com/c77BBAPQRz

— @GF4Tesla..🏗️🏗️.build #GigaBerlin. (@Gf4Tesla) May 27, 2020

The State Environment Agency also advised Tesla to refuel it outside the drinking water protection area and comply with measurements to keep noise at bay. The Agency allowed construction work on Giga Berlin's site between 6am to 10pm during the weekdays. 

While Tesla has been allowed to lay the foundation of Giga Berlin, it must be noted that the EV automaker still needs the approval to build the first building of its Gigafactory in Europe. Before the early building permit for Giga Berlin's foundation, Tesla received two other early approvals. It received early approval to clear the GF4 forest and for preparatory groundwork. 

The State Environment Agency was supposed to discuss Tesla's application for its building permit in March. However, the discussion was postponed due to the global pandemic.

However, Tesla doesn't seem too bothered by Giga Berlin's progress. The early permits seem to have kept Tesla's timeline for Giga Berlin intact. During TSLA's Q1 2020 Earnings Call Elon Musk and Zachary Kirkhorn shared that Giga Berlin was progressing right on schedule. 

Tesla's Q1 2020 Update stated the following about Giga Berlin: "We recently finished the land preparation phase and are about to break ground on the construction phase of this project. Based on the current progress, we are on track to start the first Model Y deliveries from Gigafactory Berlin in 2021," the company wrote.