Tesla receives first part of authorization to expand German plant

US electric carmaker Tesla has received the green light from the state of Brandenburg for a first step in the expansion of its plant near Berlin.

The state environmental agency has issued an initial environmental authorization, the regional Ministry of the Environment said in Brandenburg's capital Potsdam on Tuesday.

"This includes, among other things, the construction of another large hall to house the additional production units," the ministry added.

In addition, changes and optimizations to existing facilities are planned.

No further forest will have to be cleared for this. The plans in question involve an expansion on the existing site of Tesla's only electric car factory in Europe.

Tesla wants to double production in the small town of Grünheide just outside Berlin from a planned 500,000 cars a year – which has not yet been reached – to 1 million a year. The storage capacity for the production of battery cells is also to be increased.

Tesla submitted a three-part application for the expansion. The company had made it clear that it was sticking to its expansion plans, but that the timetable was open due to the difficult market situation.

Almost 12,000 people work in the Grünheide plant.