Unknown people have carried out an attack on a substation at the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant in the south of Brandenburg. There was at least one detonation, said a spokeswoman for the Brandenburg police headquarters in Potsdam on Tuesday. In the morning, several so-called unconventional incendiary and explosive devices were discovered, but not all of them exploded. The network operator 50 Hertz spoke of "home-made missiles that are similar to commercially available New Year's Eve rockets".
Brandenburg's Interior Minister, Jan Redmann (CDU), told press representatives near the coal-fired power plant on Tuesday afternoon that he could not confirm that an explosive device had exploded. The current status of the investigation shows that “conductive material flew into the high-voltage line” and thus caused a short circuit in the high-voltage line, said the minister. The resulting fireball may have been interpreted as a detonation.
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“These were certainly not New Year’s Eve rockets, but rockets that were manufactured here for this purpose,” said Redmann. The construction could not have been carried out without effort, but no “specialist knowledge” was needed.
The “Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung” had previously reported, citing security and corporate circles, that emergency services had found several devices for rockets containing explosives on site and defused them. The State Criminal Police Office, which took over the investigation, later contradicted this report.
Connection with failure of power plant block is being examined
At the request of the F.A.Z. The police announced on Tuesday afternoon that traces were still being secured on site. “No information can be given about the background at this time.”
According to 50 Hertz, several lines were damaged. The company said there was a brief line interruption. In the early afternoon it was said that all lines were back in operation. The general power supply is not affected.
A spokesman for the power plant operator Leag spoke of an attack. As a result, there was a technical failure in one block of the power plant. “A possible connection is being examined,” he explained. Work is underway to put the unit back into operation.
Brandenburg's Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) condemned the attack. “Anyone who tries to sabotage our critical infrastructure and paralyze social life is attacking us all,” he explained. The head of government spoke of a “suspected attack” and assured: “We will neither be blackmailed nor unsettled by criminal energy.”
Woidke: We have to resolutely protect our infrastructure
Fortunately, no people were harmed in the incident, explained Woidke. “This is the most important message in this situation – but we still take the attacks on our critical infrastructure very seriously,” he emphasized.
“The worryingly high frequency of such incidents shows that we must resolutely protect our infrastructure,” explained Woidke. The security authorities worked hard to investigate “in order to hold the perpetrators accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Interior Minister Redmann criticized on Tuesday afternoon that the critical infrastructure in Germany was far too vulnerable. “Hybrid threats require hybrid responses.” His ministry is therefore working on a draft law so that operators can better protect themselves from such threats. Economics Minister Martina Klement (CSU) emphasized to the press alongside Redmann that security of supply was not at risk. The incident shows that you have to rely on a “mix of different energies” in order to be resilient.
Brandenburg's Infrastructure Minister Robert Crumbach (SPD) also said: "The attack on the infrastructure in Jänschwalde is an attack on the security and livelihoods of the people in Brandenburg and beyond," he said. “Anyone who damages critical infrastructure endangers jobs, security of supply, trust and ultimately people’s health and lives.”
