Climate extremist suspected of sabotaging Germany's power grid
German authorities are hunting a 48-year-old militant climate activist believed to be behind a series of sabotage attacks on electricity infrastructure. No major power cuts resulted.
Climate extremist hunted over German power grid attacks
German authorities are searching for a 48-year-old militant climate activist believed to be responsible for a string of sabotage attacks on the country's power grid, RTÉ News reports.
"We must assume that this is a case of climate extremism," Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.
The suspect is thought to have sent letters confessing to attacks on power lines. Searches of his home in the western town of Gevelsberg uncovered suspected explosive materials, officials said.
Germany was hit this week by multiple attacks and attempted attacks on electricity substations, including in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and in Brandenburg to the east. The incidents involved firework-like devices used to fling wires across overhead high-voltage lines, in an apparent bid to cause short-circuits and sever power supplies to nearby coal-fired power stations.
No major outages resulted, though some generating units at the affected plants were temporarily taken off the grid.
Letters confessing to a number of the acts were sent to both security officials and the media, said North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul. The correspondence contained precise details of the attack plans and was considered authentic, Reul added. He said the author cited opposition to fossil fuels as the motive for the campaign.
Source: RTÉ News