German investigators are examining two separate incidents that disrupted electrical infrastructure in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia as potential acts of sabotage, with authorities saying they cannot rule out either a foreign state actor or left-wing extremists.
On Tuesday morning, multiple explosive devices were discovered at a substation near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Later that same day, a short circuit knocked out power lines at the Bergheim substation near Cologne, in western Germany. Security officials described the Bergheim incident as a deliberate act.
Neither event disrupted the broader regional power supply, and no suspects have been named in either case. Authorities have not confirmed whether the two incidents are connected, though officials in both states say they are in contact and comparing notes.
Herbert Reul, interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, did not mince words about the stakes.
“A substation is the nerve center of our daily lives. Anyone who attacks it isn’t just attacking a tin roof – they’re attacking our country, our economy, our daily lives, and all of us,” Reul said. “Critical infrastructure is the Achilles’ heel of our society. Perhaps we haven’t taken this issue seriously enough over the years.”
Brandenburg police announced Wednesday on social media platform X that they had opened an investigation into the suspected formation of a terrorist organization, tied to causing an explosion with explosives and destroying critical equipment.
Brandenburg’s interior minister, Jan Redmann, told public broadcaster ARD the situation reflects a broader pattern of threats facing the country.
“What we are currently experiencing is a hybrid threat and we therefore cannot rule out the possibility that foreign powers are behind it,” Redmann said.
Emergency crews searched the Brandenburg site for evidence on Wednesday, closing roads as investigators combed the area. Officials described the explosives found there as “rocketlike objects equipped with a propellant charge,” similar to fireworks. More than a dozen were recovered, though only one succeeded in carrying a cable into the high-voltage line to create a conductive connection to the ground, according to the German news agency dpa.
At the Bergheim substation, witnesses reported bright flashes of light along several power lines Tuesday evening. Reul was unequivocal about the nature of the incident.
“It wasn’t a broken switch, it was intentional. It was a criminal act,” Reul said. “We are investigating two possibilities: sabotage directed by a foreign government and left-wing extremism. We cannot rule out either possibility at this time.”
RWE, the utility operating the Bergheim substation, confirmed that five coal-fired power plant units with a combined capacity of 4,200 megawatts were taken offline following the incident. Investigators found six launch devices in a nearby cornfield, which Chief Detective Michael Esser said were apparently designed to lift a wire above the power lines using pyrotechnics.
Investigators have concluded so far that “the perpetrators deliberately caused a short circuit by placing conductive material – presumably cables – over the overhead line.”
Two of the affected power plant units were back online by Wednesday afternoon, with a third expected to follow later that day. Crews are working to restore the remaining two units by the weekend.
Part of a Wider Pattern
The incidents land amid heightened alert across Germany. The federal government said Tuesday that Russia was behind an attempted drone attack carrying explosives at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4.
German power infrastructure has been targeted before under similar circumstances. Suspected left-wing extremists set fire to high-voltage lines near a power plant in southwest Berlin in January.
