Battery plant of the Chinese group CATL is allowed to start operations in Thuringia

At the beginning of April, the 2nd partial permit was handed over to battery cell producers in the presence of Thuringia's Environment Minister Siegesmund and Economics Minister Tiefensee. GICON® has, among other things, taken over the entire permit management for the world market leader for lithium-ion batteries.

In order to meet the global demand for battery cells for electric cars, the Chinese company CATL is building its first battery plant outside China in Thuringia. At a public meeting with Thuringia's Minister of the Environment Anja Siegesmund and Wolfgang Tiefensee, Thuringia's Minister of Economics, Science and Digital Society, the 2nd partial permit was handed over by the Thuringian State Office for the Environment, Mining and Nature Conservation (TLUBN). This means that nothing more stands in the way of the plant's commissioning in the coming weeks.

Matthias Zentgraf, President CATL Europe: "We are in no way inferior in our complexity. Clean rooms, constant humidity.  In the second half of 2022, we will start series production of lithium ion batteries at the site. We will constantly improve our process from then on. We are also already discussing how we can recycle batteries and continue or reuse them. I would like to thank all those involved whose actions have contributed to our being able to stand here today."

Anja Siegesmund, Thuringian Minister for the Environment, Energy and Nature Conservation: "It is a milestone, not only a milestone for the individual approval sections that CATT needs here. It is a milestone for the future technologies they are working on here. By locating here, we are not only strengthening Thuringia as a business location, but also creating jobs and lastly, they are also protecting the climate in places where we see that it is very important to take this step forward."

GICON®-Consult as specialist for approval procedures and large-scale projects

GICON®-Großmann Ingenieur Consult GmbH (GICON®-Consult) has been accompanying the approval procedure for the gigafactory in Arnstadt from the very beginning and also supports the management of the authorities as well as the public meetings. GICON®-Consult had already prepared the documents for the 1st partial approval in accordance with the Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG), thus enabling the early start of construction at the end of 2019.

Dr. Annett Schröter, Managing Director of GICON®-Consult: "The complete application documents including all expert opinions were prepared in-house. Thanks to several hundred successfully completed approval procedures, we know the requirements of both the authorities and the companies very well. Major projects for global corporations such as Bosch, Samsung, BASF or Infineon are also among our references. In order to bring complex projects to a successful conclusion for all parties involved, our engineers join forces to form interdisciplinary teams if necessary GICON is able to prepare not only the application documents but also all the necessary expert opinions in-house. This also allows us to reduce potential information losses to a minimum."

For the second partial approval, the following services were provided for the investment project, which cost around 1.8 billion euros:

• Fire protection concept
• Initial status report
• Immission forecasts according to TA Luft and TA Lärm
• Chimney height calculation
• Safety report and documents for the preliminary examination of the individual case in accordance with UVPG
• Explosion protection concept
• FFH preliminary assessment documents and documents on the initial state.

However, the services of GICON® are not limited to the approval procedures. At present, GICON® is actively supervising the entire commissioning of the plant.

GICON® Group masters the entire battery life cycle

Over the past years, the GICON® group has acquired extensive know-how in the handling of services related to e-mobility. The engineering service provider masters the entire life cycle of a battery in cooperation with all companies of the group. "We are able to follow every step of the way, from the search for raw materials, the processing of raw materials, the production of cells, as in the current CATT project, through storage and distribution to subsequent recycling, be it plant planning or approval planning," says Prof. Jochen Großmann, founder and CEO of the GICON® Group.

CATL gets e-mobility rolling

CATL, to which CATT belongs, is the world market leader for lithium-ion batteries, which are indispensable for the operation of e-cars and are intended to accelerate the phasing out of the age of the combustion engine. The first battery plant outside China aims to produce batteries with a total capacity of 24 gigawatt hours per year, according to its own information.