Schuster: Sabotage Could Have Triggered a Regional Blackout

According to Interior Minister Armin Schuster, the explosive devices found on high-voltage power lines in Saxony could have led to regional power outages. If the perpetrator had succeeded, the scale of the disruption could have reached the level of a regional blackout, the CDU politician said in Dresden. “That would certainly have been possible.”

Several explosive devices detonated, but no damage

In eastern Saxony, police discovered a total of 21 pyrotechnic explosive devices on high-voltage power lines on Friday and Saturday. According to Schuster, these were set up so that they could pull a wire across the high-voltage cables, thereby causing short circuits. Some of the devices had reportedly already been detonated. However, aside from some burnt grass, no significant damage was caused.

Additional explosive devices were discovered in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg. In two cases, the devices succeeded in their purpose: In Bergheim, west of Cologne, a short circuit shut down several units of a power plant for several days. At the Turnow-Preilack substation in Brandenburg, near the Jänschwalde power plant, two short circuits occurred. However, neither incident resulted in a power outage.

48-Year-Old Arrested Near Aachen

North Rhine-Westphalia police arrested the suspected perpetrator this morning near the Weisweiler power plant in Aachen. The man had been sought under an arrest warrant issued by the Cottbus public prosecutor’s office. According to police, he did not resist arrest and was carrying additional explosives.