Berlin power grid attack caused by ‘extremist leftists,’ officials say

Up to 45,000 households expected to be without power for days as a result of a fire next to a power plant; far-left group claims attack, says it targeted the ‘fossil fuel economy’

A fire in southwest Berlin that has left tens of thousands in the German capital without electricity was likely the result of a far-left extremist attack, officials said on Sunday.

Grid company Stromnetz Berlin said on Saturday that the suspected arson attack could leave up to 45,000 households without power until January 8.

The fire broke out on Saturday morning on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, near the Lichterfelde power plant, according to local authorities. Initially, over 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses in four districts were without electricity. Heating and internet services were also affected.

Franziska Giffey, the city’s Senator for Economic Affairs, described the incident as “a particularly severe power outage affecting tens of thousands of households and businesses, including care facilities, hospitals, numerous social institutions and companies.”

On Sunday, Stromnetz Berlin said efforts to restore power were ongoing, with around 35,000 households and 1,900 commercial entities still affected.

Snowy weather and freezing temperatures have slowed down efforts to restore electricity and made life extra difficult for those affected.

Following the attack, local media published a letter purportedly from a far-left activist organisation called the Volcano Group that claimed responsibility for the incident, saying its actions were directed at the fossil-fuel-based energy industry.

The statement from the Volcano Group posted online said that the power station in Berlin’s Lichterfelde district had been “successfully sabotaged,” but said that “the fossil fuel economy was the target of the action, not power cuts.”

“The letter claiming responsibility has been classified as authentic by the security authorities,” Iris Spranger, Berlin’s interior affairs minister, said in a post on X.

“I condemn this inhumane attack on Berliners and visitors to the city in the strongest possible terms. The investigation is ongoing.”

The perpetrators were “clearly left-wing extremists,” Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner was cited as saying by a German news agency. “It is unacceptable that once again, clearly left-wing extremists have attacked our power grid and thereby endangered human lives,” Wegner said.

He accused them of having “knowingly put lives at risk, especially those of patients in hospitals, as well as the elderly, children and families.”

In September, a suspected arson attack on two pylons left around 50,000 households in Berlin without power in an incident local media said bore similarities to Volcano Group’s high-profile attack on the power supply of Tesla’s gigafactory in Gruenheide in 2024.

Germany has been on high alert for sabotage activities directed at its infrastructure, including from foreign actors such as Russia.