BERLIN, Germany: The German government has approved plans for Tesla to begin assembling autos at its new factory near Berlin, German officials have confirmed.

The Berlin site will also manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

While the approval is technically conditional, plans are moving forward for full operations at Tesla’s new Brandenburg plant.

The Tesla plant had originally been planned to begin operations in the summer of 2021.

The government has released a 536-page decision approving the Tesla plant, allowing the production of up to 500,000 vehicles per year.

The final hurdle for Tesla will come in the months ahead, as a public objection period will be held, along with company proposals to be submitted for air pollution control and water usage.

The operating license was issued by the Brandenburg state environment office, which described the proposed Tesla plant as “a great success for Brandenburg.”

Industry observers note that the German factory is an important component in Tesla’s plans to expand globally. Operating the German plant follows the opening of its Gigafactory 3 plant in Shanghai and the upcoming opening of a plant in Texas.

In November 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk spoke of his desire to build a car plant in Germany.

“Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure. That’s part of the reason why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world,” Tesla said at the time.