The top official in the German state where Elon Musk built his Tesla gigafactory – the only one in Europe – has expressed support for the company’s controversial use of water resources in the region, dpa reported.

“We are right to be frugal with water. But Tesla is the wrong person to criticize for this,” Brandenburg Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke told dpa.

“The company does not want to use any additional water in production and wants to completely recycle all industrial wastewater in the future,” said Woidke, who is a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Tesla opened its giant car factory in Grünheide, east of Berlin, more than two years ago. The move was seen as a coup and created around 12,000 jobs for the region, which was part of the former East Germany.

Tesla wants to increase production and expand the site. Since construction, environmentalists and local residents have raised concerns, partly because the factory is located in a water protection area.

But Woidke is not worried. “If we want to secure our prosperity, we also need a strong economy,” he said.

State leader says Tesla is a ‘huge profit’

The head of state of Brandenburg sees multi-billionaire Musk’s company as a role model.

“Tesla is a huge asset to the capital region and shows that we can get investments off the ground very quickly under the current conditions in Germany,” Woidke said. “Mr. Musk has played a major role in driving this investment forward, and we are grateful for that.”

Woidke did have one point of criticism: “I would have liked to see the company show a little more activity and transparency in recent years.”

Woidke cautious about Musk’s politics

The state leader was cautious about the political statements of Musk, who among others supported the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, the main rival to Woidke’s SPD in the state elections in September.

“Of course I don’t share all of his views,” Woidke said.

After the European Parliament elections in June, Musk posted on X: “The AfD’s political positions that I’ve read about don’t sound extremist.”

Tesla dismisses environmentalists’ concerns

Since late February, environmental activists have been protesting in the forest near the Tesla factory against the planned expansion of the factory site to build a freight depot.

In May, activists attempted to storm the Tesla site. Woidke said he had the impression that there was “a European mobilization here to bring the protest scene together.”

According to information provided by the company in March, the plant uses 2.28 cubic meters of water per vehicle to produce cars. This is a third less than the industry average of 3.68 cubic meters of water. Tesla uses up to 100% of its process water, the company says.

Tesla uses less water than the company itself said

The consumption of fresh water last year was less than 500,000 cubic meters. That is considerably less than the agreed amount of water per year.

According to the Brandenburg Environment Ministry, the energy company Leag uses more than 44 million cubic meters of water annually to cool its power plant, which is located about 150 kilometers southeast of Berlin, near the border with Poland.