German authorities have arrested a suspect in last week’s sabotage attacks on the country’s power grid and believe the motive was “climate extremism.”
The 48-year-old suspect was arrested on Tuesday. The man was carrying explosives when he was detained near the Weisweiler power plant, according to reports.
On Friday, officials said that traces of explosives had been found in his apartment, according to German media.
“We must assume that this is a case of climate extremism,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said last week, DW reported.
The supposed perpetrator sent letters to officials and journalists, reportedly claiming responsibility for the acts and stating his motive was “the fight against fossil fuels.”
The supposed perpetrator cited “the fight against fossil fuels” as the motive for the attacks
Three acts of sabotage were committed last week – two in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and one in the northeastern state of Brandenburg. On Friday, authorities found explosive devices near two power substations in the eastern state of Saxony, according to DW.
Last week’s attacks targeted substations and overhead lines in an attempt to cause short circuits and disrupt power supply from nearby coal-fired plants. They did not cause power outages, although some generating units were temporarily taken offline.
According to earlier reports, the attacks were carried out with homemade devices that resembled New Year’s fireworks.
The attacks did not cause power outages
Following the initial attacks, Brandenburg Interior Minister Jan Redmann said foreign actors or left-wing extremists could not be ruled out as possible perpetrators.
Earlier this year, radical left-wing Vulkan Group claimed responsibility for setting fire to a cable bridge near the Lichterfelde gas-fired power plant in southwestern Berlin, leaving around 45,000 homes and more than 2,200 businesses without electricity.
