We generalize the standard site percolation model on the $d$-dimensional lattice to a model on random tessellations of $\mathbb R^d$. We prove the uniqueness of the infinite cluster by adapting the Burton-Keane argument \cite{burton1989density}, develop two frameworks that imply the non-triviality of the phase transition and show that large classes of random tessellations fit into one of these frameworks. Our focus is on a very general approach that goes well beyond the typical Poisson driven models. The most interesting examples might be Voronoi tessellations induced by determinantal processes or certain classes of Gibbs processes introduced in \cite{schreiber2013}. In a second paper we will investigate first passage percolation on random tessellations.