Even three decades after unification, the eastern parts of Germany are trotting behind the western ones. But now huge investments are coming to that region, revolving around the production of electric cars.
Fred Maro looks at the green areas in the center of Guben from his office window. This East German town, separated only by a border and a river from its Polish twin, rarely makes the headlines.
But now, says Mayor Maro, Guben has become a symbol of the new power of eastern Germany to attract large investments in the technologies of the future.
Here, the German-Canadian Rok Tech Lithium is planning the first European plant for the production of lithium hydroxide, a key material for the production of car batteries. The target is 24.000 metric tons per year, enough for half a million cars.
Some new jobs
Guben, like most of the former GDR, searched for itself for a long time after German unification. Old industries were disappearing, the population was halved.
A new blow came two years ago, when the national parliament decided that coal would no longer be mined in Germany - and lignite had always been mined in the Guben area.
"When the debate about getting out of coal started some five years ago, we closed ranks and brainstormed what could bring us other jobs," Maro told DW. "It was clear that we had to attract new companies and that they needed suitable locations - we didn't listen to the class, but we secured permits to build new factories in our huge industrial park."
Rok Tech Lithium will invest around 470 million euros, and lead the race for electromobility in Europe. This becomes more important after the European Commission decided in principle to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2035.
"Guben has already developed as an industrial center and has a direct railway connection, which will avoid truck transport", Markus Brigman, the first man of Rock Tech, tells us.
Customers are nearby
The breaking point was perhaps what is happening in the east of Germany, mostly in the province of Brandenburg around Berlin, which is tantamount to the industrial revolution. Here, the American Tesla is building a "giga-factory" of electric vehicles, and the giant chemical concern BASF will make the cathodes necessary for lithium-ion batteries.
"Everything is here, from the production of electric vehicles to batteries, but there was no lithium hydroxide - that's where we come into play. Strategically, we are in the right place in Guben, with potential customers nearby," says Brigman.
East Germany, a part of the country that three decades after reunification is still economically lagging behind the West, is now being revived by electromobility.
"If Germany had continued to push internal combustion engines, it would have been much more difficult to grab a large share of the electromobility pie," Klaus Dol, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems Research and Innovation, tells us.
"The great advantage of eastern Germany is that there is no shortage of space for large projects, and construction space is much harder to find in the west," says Dol. "Local governments try hard to attract businesses, they often work with less bureaucracy and faster."
A lot of vacant land in Greenheide near Berlin also attracted Tesla. Because they are building on 300 hectares, which corresponds to the area of 400 football fields.
Gas worries
Something else speaks in favor of the East, especially in an age when energy supply has become uncertain. "Energy from renewable sources covers 95 percent of East Germany's needs, and this is key for many investors," says Robert Herman, director of the Trade&Invest agency.
The problem with this is the condition described as "dark silence" - when it is quiet, without wind, and at the same time gloomy without the sun's rays. Then wind farms and solar panels do not help, and one has to resort to oil or gas.
That is why the war in Ukraine, as well as speculations that Russia could introduce a gas embargo on Germany, are causing additional headaches for the mayor of Guben.
"Investors could be pissed off because of the energy problems," says Fred Maro. "The question is when we will be able to give up gas almost completely - at the moment it is unthinkable for many industries, including those operating in Guben."
The head of Rok Teh Lithium says that the investment is not threatened. "We hope that there will be alternative gas from other sources, and we plan to replace it with hydrogen later," adds Brigman. "But initially we will need natural gas, or liquefied gas, and we are confident that there will be enough liquefied gas to start production in 2024 as planned."
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