Tesla shares reservations about Giga Berlin's revised water contract

Yesterday at 12:15 PM

A previously agreed-upon water supply and wastewater disposal contract between Tesla and the Strausberg-Erkner Water Association (WSE) is now in jeopardy due to last-minute changes made by the WSE.

The issue:

• Tesla and the WSE had reached an agreement about Giga Berlin’s water services in December 2024 after 18 months of negotiations.
• The WSE later altered the contract, including provisions for special termination rights and water quantities without Tesla’s consent, as per Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig.

What they are saying:

• Thierig told rbb24: “These are changes in the annexes to the actual resolution agreement, and specifically changes in the special termination right and the water quantities, which could be adjusted unilaterally by the WSE. This is not related to the agreements we made together in the one and a half years of negotiations. As things stand, we are therefore not prepared to sign it.”
• Chairman of the WSE association assembly Thomas Krieger acknowledged the issue: “Tesla says – and this is entirely understandable – that WSE association chairman Mr. Bähler has now introduced clauses that were not agreed upon. However, this cannot be clarified now because more time is needed. We will see that we clarify this by March 5th.”

Tesla’s Water Consumption:

• Tesla already consumes significantly less water than originally intended, with Giga Berlin using up half as much water as a nearby asparagus farm.
• This was made possible by Giga Berlin’s wastewater treatment facility, which is one of the largest and most modern in Germany.
• Due to Giga Berlin producing less production wastewater, the facility’s sanitary wastewater is more concentrated.
• This means that it cannot be diluted and discharged into the WSE’s wastewater network. This also results in Giga Berlin’s discharge parameters being exceeded.

Next Steps:

• The WSE members are set to convene again in early March, with Krieger hoping for resolution talks between WSE head André Bähler and Tesla by March 5.
• The Giga Berlin plant manager is still optimistic that an agreement can be reached. “We simply hope that the association assembly will then say that the amendment agreement, as passed on December 4, remains intact and that the attachments from August last year will be re-attached to this amendment agreement. Then the way will be paved for us to sign this amendment agreement and we can hopefully look forward to calmer times.”

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