Bergheim: Ermittler finden sechs Abschussvorrichtungen am Umspannwerk – RWE bringt zwei Blöcke wieder ans Netz

In the aftermath of an attack on a substation in Bergheim, near Cologne, energy company RWE has taken several power plant units offline, the company announced on Wednesday morning. RWE Power stated that the police consider the incident to be a criminal act. The investigators discovered six firing devices at the scene, located in a field.

These devices were reportedly constructed to guide pyrotechnic objects into the air above the power lines, according to the Chief Criminal Prosecutor Michael Esser. A similar attack had occurred at the Jänschwalde power plant in Brandenburg just a few hours earlier, where five power units were also affected by the assault. According to the power generator, a total of 4200 Megawatts (MW) of power capacity was taken offline across the Rheinische region, with the affected blocks producing 3000 Megawatts of electricity at the time of the disruption.

This represented a significant portion of Germany's fossil fuel power production at the time. RWE did not provide any information regarding possible damages; the affected units included G and F at the Neurath plant, as well as H, G, and K at the Niederaußem plant.