Brandenburg Interior Minister Jan Redmann told reporters at the scene Tuesday that whoever planted the homemade devices near the Jaenschwalde plant's transformer station intended to force conductive material into high-voltage lines — a tactic that partially worked. "In several cases they succeeded", he said.
Still, the broader goal of destabilizing the power grid failed, Redmann said, adding that Brandenburg "came out of this unscathed" given how many devices were recovered and the fact that supply was never seriously interrupted.
Plant operator Leag confirmed the attack knocked out a 500-megawatt generating unit, which shut down automatically. Grid operators reported only a brief interruption before restoring all lines.
The devices, discovered early Tuesday near the transformer station in Turnow-Preilack, were self-built pyrotechnics resembling commercial fireworks rockets, according to the plant operator. Investigators found additional, unexploded devices at the site and were still searching for more. Brandenburg's state criminal police have taken over the case; no motive has been established.
State premier Dietmar Woidke said he was relieved no one was injured but warned that attacks on energy infrastructure are becoming too frequent to ignore. "The alarmingly high frequency of such incidents shows that we must decisively protect our infrastructure", he said.
The Turnow-Preilack station sits near the Saxony border and roughly 20 kilometers from Poland, distributing power from Jaenschwalde across the region. Built in the final years of East Germany, the plant remains Brandenburg's largest coal facility, though only two or three of its original six units still operate. It is due to close in 2028.
The incident drew comparisons to a January arson attack on high-voltage lines in Berlin that cut power to thousands of homes for days. The far-left Vulkan Group claimed responsibility for that attack.
(jh)
Source: PAP