German police confirmed on Wednesday that the incident at the electricity substation of operator Amprion in Bergheim, in western Germany, was a deliberate act, ruling out the initial hypothesis of technical failure. The incident occurred one day after a similar attack against an energy facility at the Janschwalde coal-fired power plant, in southern Brandenburg.
Security forces were called in the late afternoon of Tuesday due to a disturbance in the electrical grid, and it was reported that a short circuit caused the failure of several power lines in the region. The company Amprion estimated that "with high probability" the incident was caused by "external intervention."
According to energy company RWE, the incident led to the deactivation of five production units, representing a total capacity of 4,200 megawatts. At the time of the incident, the various units were injecting approximately 3,000 megawatts into the electrical grid. Two units are expected to return to the grid on Wednesday, another throughout the day, and the remaining two only by the weekend.
The operator Amprion assured that the energy supply was not affected "at any time" and that system stability was maintained, with no interruption in supply to neighboring municipalities.
