What we know about the attack on the Tesla gigafactory in Berlin
The Tesla gigafactory facilities in Gründheide, just outside Berlin, are at a standstill due to an attack by the extremist group Vulkan. All the details
Since this morning the plants at the Tesla gigafactory in Gründheide, just outside Berlin, have been at a standstill. Production is suspended due to a power outage due to an electrical pylon on fire in Goßen-Neu Zittau, in the Brandenburg region where the gigafactory is also located. It was an attack.
ATTACK CLAIMED BY VULKAN GROUP, FAR-LEFT Acronym
It was claimed late in the morning by the Vulkan Group, classified by the security authorities as left-wing extremist. “Today we sabotaged Tesla,” reads a letter from the group reported by the German media. The first police investigations had already pointed towards the hypothesis of an attack. Criminal investigations are now entrusted to the State Security Department.
The workers on the morning shift were sent home by the company and the security staff proceeded to evacuate the plant. The company then assured that all measures have been taken to secure the production plants. The fire brigade was called around 5.15am and began putting out the fire.
After consulting electricity supplier Edis, Tesla does not expect a quick restart of production: it will take "some time" before the damage can be repaired and the factory can be supplied with electricity again, a Tesla spokeswoman said. 'agency.
PRODUCTION SUSPENDED, IT WILL TAKE TIME TO RESUME
Long times also confirmed by the electricity supplier. “The repair of the damaged area on the high-voltage pylon is currently being prepared,” Danilo Fox, spokesman for Edis, told the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel . The damaged site with the E.DIS high voltage pylon has been made safe. It is not just the gigafactory that is affected by the inconveniences. Electricity was also cut in the towns of Erkner and Grünheide and in some areas of south-east Berlin. Also involved is a product sorting center of the large Edeka supermarket chain, from which the branches of the capital are supplied.
The first to reveal the hypothesis of an attack was the regional newspaper Märkische Allgemeine, which revealing sources close to the investigators had written that "the fire would have been set intentionally" and that the police had formulated the accusation of arson. In the meantime, according to the newspaper, the explosive ordnance disposal service had been sent.
THE VULKAN GROUP ALREADY KNOWN FOR ACTIONS AGAINST TESLA
The Vulkan Group is not an unknown acronym in the far-left scene of the metropolitan area of the capital. He was already suspected of having started an arson attack on the electricity grid at the Tesla construction site in 2021. At the time, with an intervention on the radical left-wing website Indymedia.org, this group accused Tesla (which produces electric cars) of being "neither green, neither ecological nor social". Brandenburg's Office for the Protection of the Constitution noted in its 2021 report that "left-wing extremists, such as the Vulkan Group, have carried out arson attacks several times in recent years."
Everything points to an escalation of the protest against the plans to expand the gigafactory. Tesla aims to double production in Grünheide, going from 500,000 cars a year to one million and to do so it has presented an expansion project to the local authorities.
THE PROTESTS AGAINST THE EXPANSION PLANS
Since last week, environmentalists have been protesting peacefully against this project for the moment. About 80 to 100 activists occupy part of the national forest that Tesla wants to clear to build a freight station and logistics and storage sheds that would partly sit in a water conservation area. They built several platforms among the trees to erect wooden houses to use as shelter for the protesters. For the moment the protest has been tolerated by the authorities, also mindful of the clashes between police and demonstrators last year during a similar (but more extensive) environmental protest in North Rhine-Westphalia over the Lützerath coal mine.
THE REACTION OF THE AUTHORITIES
The regional Interior Minister of the Land of Brandenburg, Michael Stübgen (CDU), in a statement prior to the Vulkan Group's claim, had been cautious in pointing the finger at those responsible, but very harsh regarding the consequences of the attack. “If the initial findings are confirmed, this is a malicious attack on our electricity infrastructure. This will have consequences. Thousands of people have been cut off from their basic supplies and put in danger,” Stübgen said, “the rule of law will react to this act of sabotage with the utmost severity.”
THE CITIZEN REFERENDUM
The expansion of the gigafactory is controversial not only among environmental groups, whether moderate or radical, but also among the inhabitants of the surrounding small towns and rural areas. Two weeks ago the majority of Grünheide residents said they were against the expansion of the electric car factory through a public referendum promoted by the local authorities. About 3,500 residents had voted against Tesla's plans while just under 1,900 had voted for the expansion. Voter turnout was over 70%.
INDUSTRIAL FEARS ABOUT A TESLA LEAK
The referendum vote is not binding, although some members of the Grünheide city administration have made it known that they will take it into account when voting on the approval of the project. Meanwhile, the ecological occupiers have made it known that they will not leave the protest camp and that on the contrary they intend to continue their occupation of the area for a long time because they fear that the city councilors will ignore the will of the citizens expressed in the referendum vote. Tesla's plan would require cutting down more than 100 hectares of forest, and part of the site is in a water conservation area.
Concerns about Tesla's reactions instead come from Brandenburg's industrial associations and economic ministers. The company has brought 12 thousand jobs to a region thirsty for investments and is willing to create even more, the president of the Land's industrial association said a few days ago, not to mention the contributions to the infrastructural development of the area, from the road network to the railway network up to the works in the centers affected by the settlement.
For some time the German press has highlighted the Italian courtship of Elon Musk and raises the danger that, disheartened by an environment increasingly hostile to its industrial plans, Tesla may leave Brandenburg and emigrate elsewhere. Maybe right in Italy.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/tesla-attentato-gigafactory-berlino/ on Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:04:32 +0000.