Berlin endures longest postwar blackout as power infrastructure damaged and activist sabotage emerges
Berlin endures longest postwar blackout as high-voltage cables near Lichterfelde power plant are damaged, while activists admit sabotaging Tesla's power supply in 2024, disrupting production.
Overview
Authorities say Berlin is experiencing its longest postwar blackout, with authorities and utility crews working to restore power as neighborhoods report outages, traffic disruptions, and limited public services.
A fire damaged high-voltage cables near the Lichterfelde gas-fired power plant on Saturday, complicating restoration efforts and raising questions about grid resilience.
Activists have admitted responsibility for damaging Tesla's power supply near Berlin in 2024, a move critics say underscores tensions around the city's industrial operations.
Authorities say investigators are tracing damage to identify culprits and assess potential impact on production lines, inventory, and energy contracts tied to critical infrastructure.
Officials emphasize improving energy security, noting incidents highlight the need for resilient cables, backup generation, and rapid restoration plans across central Berlin's power network.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources... present the outage in a neutral, descriptive manner, citing residents, officials, and group claims without endorsing any stance. Language remains measured, uncertainties are noted, and competing narratives are given space, avoiding a single dominant frame. This is evident in the mix of resident anecdotes, official updates, and perpetrator claims.
Sources (3)
FAQ
The outage was caused by a fire on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, damaging high-voltage cables to the Lichterfelde power station, suspected to be a left-wing extremist arson attack.
Approximately 100,000 people were affected, including 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses in the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district.
It was the longest postwar outage in Berlin, lasting five days until full restoration on January 7, 2026, ahead of schedule.
170 technicians worked around the clock to repair cables; emergency services included mobile emergency calls, warming centers at pools, medical on-call services, and a state of emergency was declared.
Power supply to all affected districts was fully restored by January 7, 2026, 3:30 pm; short-term outages may occur, and classes/nurseries are resuming normally.
History
This story does not have any previous versions.