North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg: Power-grid attacks raise sabotage suspicions

Six launch devices hidden in a cornfield near Bergheim, close to Cologne, have brought a second German power-grid incident under suspicion of deliberate sabotage. Investigators believe unknown attackers used cables and pyrotechnic devices to trigger a short circuit at a substation.

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That was deliberate. Anyone who attacks it is attacking our country.

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said the act was intentional. “That was deliberate. Anyone who attacks it is attacking our country,” he said. Several power plant units were shut down, and prosecutors said the incident threatened vital supplies for the population, although it did not cause a general power outage.

The case resembles an attack reported earlier in Brandenburg near the Turnow-Preilack substation and the Jänschwalde power plant. According to Brandenburg Interior Minister Jan Redmann, attackers used homemade devices resembling fireworks rockets to direct conductive material toward high-voltage lines. More than a dozen rocket-like objects reportedly contained propellant, but only one appears to have reached its target and it caused no effects.

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We are examining two possibilities: foreign-directed sabotage and left-wing extremism.

Authorities found launch devices and pyrotechnics near both locations. They believe some may have been installed well before the attacks. Investigators have not identified those responsible and are examining two possibilities, foreign-directed sabotage and left-wing extremism. They are also taking a closer look at a June fire at a substation in Reutlingen that temporarily cut electricity to about 7,600 buildings and 40,000 people. Investigators suspect arson. The affected states now plan to coordinate more closely.

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We were damn lucky.