Sabotage of electricity network in Germany: 48-year-old climate activist arrested
A 48-year-old man, described as an extremist climate activist, has been arrested in Germany following several attacks on power lines. Explosives were seized at his home.
Arrested near lignite power station after series of attacks
A 48-year-old man was apprehended on Tuesday during a roadside check near the Weisweiler power station in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to connaissancedesenergies.org. The suspect, identified by German media as Daniel V., is the subject of a prosecution investigation for suspicion of causing an explosion and disrupting public services, according to a police statement. The federal government has described him as an "extremist" climate activist from the same region in western Germany where several of the alleged attacks are concentrated.
The investigations concern acts of sabotage against power lines committed on 1 September in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, and then on 4 September in Saxony. On 3 September, police received a letter claiming responsibility, with the sender identifiable. A search of the suspect's home resulted in the seizure of objects suspected of being explosives, triggering an intensive search. His truck is believed to have been found on Friday afternoon at a Rhineland site associated with a former ecological occupation zone, according to the newspaper Bild.
The Weisweiler power station, operated by RWE, is a lignite installation in the Rhine Basin. According to RWE, it is to cease producing electricity from lignite in 2029, as part of Germany's exit from coal.
These incidents are part of a series of attacks and sabotage attempts against electrical infrastructure that have multiplied in recent months in Germany. Some have been attributed to left-wing activists, others to Russia, against a backdrop of heightened vigilance around critical energy infrastructure. On 3 January, the arson attack on an electrical installation claimed by the group "Vulkangruppe" left more than 100,000 people without power in Berlin. The sabotages recorded since last week have not caused large-scale power cuts, although the operation of neighbouring power stations was very briefly disrupted.
Source: Google News LU — Crime (fr)