hw_46a9d2345e765012

Launch devices trigger short circuit at Amprion power substation near Bergheim, Germany.

On 1 September 2026, German police were called to an Amprion power substation near Bergheim after a deliberately caused short circuit affected technical infrastructure at the site. The incident happened at around 18:00 GMT / 20:00 local time and was treated by police as premeditated vandalism or sabotage against electricity-grid infrastructure. Investigators later found six launch devices in a nearby cornfield, which were believed to have been used to fire pyrotechnic objects carrying wire or other conductive material toward high-voltage lines. The conductive material appears to have caused the short circuit at the substation. Grid operator Amprion said external interference was likely, but the general power supply and grid stability were maintained. RWE said the incident forced five lignite power-plant units, with a combined capacity of around 4,200 MW, to go offline temporarily. North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said investigators were examining both foreign-state-directed sabotage and left-wing extremist motives, and that neither line of inquiry could yet be excluded. The case also showed similarities to the Brandenburg substation attack reported the same day, but authorities had not confirmed a common perpetrator. Therefore, this should be marked as “Fitting the pattern”, not “Officially attributed”: it fits the wider pattern of sabotage against European energy infrastructure, but it was not officially attributed to Russia in the available reporting.

Occurrence

2026-09-01

Publication

2026-09-01T10:15:23Z

First observed

2026-09-24T06:09:10.079Z

Review status

Not assessed

Countries

DE

Updated

2026-09-27T23:56:59.668Z