Fire at Berlin energy facility prompts police to investigate possible arson

A fire at a transformer station in Berlin has raised fresh concerns about the security of Germany’s energy infrastructure, following a series of attacks and suspected sabotage attempts across the country.

The fire also spread to a construction site in the Moabit district. Berlin police said on X that they were trying to determine whether it had been caused by an accident or deliberate arson. The report of the fire emerged shortly before 3 a.m. Authorities stressed that the blaze did not interrupt electricity supplies in the capital.

The incident came as German police and prosecutors investigated other threats to power facilities. The Bild newspaper reported that police in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, had launched a large-scale operation after a protective fence around a transformer station there was cut.

On Sept. 4, police said they were searching for the author of letters claiming responsibility for a series of acts of sabotage against energy infrastructure. Explosive materials were found during a search of the person’s home. That same day, explosive devices were discovered near a power station in Dormagen, in western Germany. They resembled devices used in sabotage near Bergheim, where unknown perpetrators caused a short circuit on high-voltage lines and disrupted the operation of several power plant units.

Authorities in Saxony said on Sept. 7 that security services had defused 21 explosive devices found in recent days near high-voltage lines. Eight were located south of the Baerwalde power station in the Bautzen district and four east of the Graustein station in the Görlitz district. Officials said all the devices had been neutralized, with no damage, power disruptions or threat to the public. They said the devices appeared intended to damage the lines by triggering short circuits. The attacks occurred before elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany won almost 44% of the vote and advocates halting military aid to Ukraine and normalizing relations with Russia.