Germany investigates suspected power-grid sabotage as explosives are found at suspect’s home

German police are hunting a 48-year-old man who claimed responsibility for a series of suspected attacks on the country’s power grid. The search intensified after officers found what appeared to be explosives at his home.

The man sent letters to authorities and media outlets. In them, he cited opposition to fossil fuels as the motive, North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the evidence pointed to “climate extremism.”

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climate extremism

The claims remain unverified. Reul said investigators still do not know whether the wanted man carried out the attacks or acted alone. Authorities have also not ruled out foreign-state sponsorship or the involvement of left-wing extremists.

The suspect claimed responsibility for an incident at a substation in Bergheim near Cologne on Tuesday. Conductive material apparently reached high-voltage infrastructure, causing a short circuit that knocked five power-generation units offline. Police later found several launch devices nearby.

A second suspected attempt was discovered Thursday evening in Dormagen, south of Düsseldorf, after a passer-by noticed pipes fitted with cables and timers aimed at a substation. Police found two launch devices in the area. Reul said the letters identified additional targets, including a substation in Weisweiler near Aachen.

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We are currently facing a range of different threats and risks simultaneously. Sabotage, cyberattacks, covert operations, extremism and state terrorism, we are currently under threat from all these dangers at the same time.

The investigation unfolded as Germany faced heightened concern over attacks on critical infrastructure before a closely watched state election on Sunday. Dobrindt said Germany was simultaneously confronting sabotage, cyberattacks, covert operations, extremism and state terrorism. He said the increase in threats was likely to continue and that state terrorism and extremism could be linked.

Germany also formally blamed Russia for a drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport in August, describing it as part of hybrid warfare aimed at intimidating and dividing countries that support Ukraine. Russia rejected the allegation as baseless.

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It is possible that these two factors are interlinked.