According to the police, unknown people set fire to a high-voltage pylon early on Tuesday morning in a district of Gosen-Neu Zittau between Steinfurt and Hartmannsdorf, as a result of which the power supply failed in numerous surrounding towns and in the nearby Tesla factory in Grünheide. According to a Tesla spokeswoman, there was a production standstill and employees were sent home. It was initially unclear when production could resume.
According to the energy company Edis, there were supply outages in Freienbrink, Erkner, Neuzittau, Dahlwitz-Hoppegarten, Neuenhagen, Woltersdorf, Gosen and Schöneiche. By late Tuesday morning, all affected communities were able to be supplied again thanks to switchovers – with the exception of a large industrial settlement and a logistics center, as it was said.
Edis experts worked with partner companies to prepare the repair of the damage to the high-voltage pylon and waited for approval from the investigative authorities. The State Criminal Police Office is investigating suspected arson. The police were deployed, among other things, with helicopters, drones, a police force and service dogs.
A police spokesman said that the authenticity of a letter of responsibility published on an internet platform by the “Turn off Tesla volcano group” was being checked. The group stated: “We sabotaged Tesla today.” She called for a “complete destruction of the Gigafactory” and accused Tesla of “extreme exploitation conditions” and contamination of groundwater.
“It is obviously a serious attack on our critical infrastructure with consequences for thousands of people as well as many small and large businesses in our country,” explained Woidke in Potsdam. Attacks on critical infrastructure are “a form of terrorism.” What is now necessary is consistent action by the rule of law, emphasized the Prime Minister. “If the suspicion of a terrorist attack is confirmed, the Federal Prosecutor General will have to take over the investigation.”
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) also spoke of a “perfidious attack” on the electricity infrastructure. Thousands of people have been cut off from basic services and put in danger. “The constitutional state will react to such an act of sabotage with the utmost severity,” explained the Interior Minister.
With regard to a nearby protest camp of environmental activists, a spokeswoman for the Potsdam police headquarters said that investigations were being carried out in all directions. In protest against the planned expansion of the Tesla factory in Grünheide, environmental activists occupied a nearby forest last week. According to the Robinwood and “Stop Tesla” initiatives, among other things, tree houses were built there.
Both initiatives said on Tuesday that they were not responsible for the alleged attack. Robin Wood is “a non-violent action group for nature and the environment,” the organization said.
In addition to the 300-hectare factory site, Tesla wants to build a freight yard, warehouses and a company kindergarten on an additional 170 hectares. To achieve this, more than a hundred hectares of forest are to be cleared in a landscape protection area.
A majority of residents in the community of Grünheide spoke out against expanding the Tesla site by 170 hectares in a citizen survey. The vote is not binding for the community.
