RWE: “Deliberately damaged”
Imbalanced power pole in Garzweiler
03/11/2023 4:21 p.m
Did previously unknown people attack the critical infrastructure in Garzweiler in North Rhine-Westphalia? According to the police, the “influence of third parties is likely”. A power pole around 80 meters high has fallen asleep on the site of the opencast mine. Loosened screws were found nearby.
On the site of the Garzweiler opencast mine in North Rhine-Westphalia, an approximately 80-meter-high electricity pylon has buckled. As the operator of the opencast mine, RWE assumes that the pylon was “deliberately damaged and brought down”. An RWE spokesman said: “Should it have been sabotage of the critical infrastructure, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
A power pole support at the Garzweiler opencast mine shows damage.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/RWE)
The police confirmed that “the interference of third parties is likely”. According to the company, the mast supplies the mine with electricity. According to dpa information, a waterworks would also have been affected if the power lines failed. “Since the power supply is stable, the water supply of Grevenbroich is not at risk from the Fürth waterworks operated by RWE,” said the RWE spokesman on request. To be on the safe side, two of the four circuits running over the mast were switched off. RWE has filed a criminal complaint. The Garzweiler opencast mine is still in operation: “The power plants can also continue to work.”
According to RWE, an employee discovered the collapsed mast on Friday and alerted the police. Specialists therefore anchored and secured the mast at night and secured it against collapsing. The police have started an investigation at the scene. A photo from the crime scene shows that screws have been loosened and metal parts have obviously been sawn off, which indicates manipulation.