German authorities probe suspected sabotage after 2 power substation disruptions

Two incidents that disrupted power distribution systems in the west and east of Germany are being invested as possible sabotageByThe Associated PressSeptember 2, 2026, 5:52 AMBERLIN -- Two incidents that disrupted power distribution systems in the west and east of Germany are being invested as possible sabotage, authorities said. Multiple explosive devices were found Tuesday morning at a substation near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg in northeast Germany. No general power outage resulted, but a few of the devices caused short circuits, authorities said.Separately, a short circuit that caused several power lines to go out of service Tuesday evening at the Bergheim power substation near Cologne in western Germany appeared to be a deliberate act, police said, adding there was no general power outage.“Based on the current state of the investigation, we are not assuming a technical defect, but rather a deliberate act, a crime,” the Essen police said of the Cologne outage, according to German press agency dpa. RWE, a company operating coal power plants that utilize the Bergheim substation, said five coal-fired units with a combined capacity of 4,200 megawatts were ...