As of: March 6, 2024, 11:17 a.m
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Police officers are investigating the damaged electricity pylon in a field in Spreenhagen.
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
The attack on the power supply with huge consequences for the car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide has alarmed politicians.
How can the state protect the energy supply as critical infrastructure?
Berlin/Grünheide - The alleged attack on the power supply to the Tesla car factory in Grünheide near Berlin has sparked a debate about better protection of sensitive infrastructure in Germany.
“Politics and business are jointly required to ensure the security of networks and critical systems,” said Martin Wansleben, Managing Director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK).
The federal government must finally push forward legal regulations on this.
Tesla factory manager André Thierig said: “We hope that the security authorities in the state of Brandenburg and Germany will think about how to secure this here.” The state government also announced that it wanted to strengthen protection, but also emphasized that there can be no 100% security.
Damage “in the high nine-figure range”
After a suspected arson attack, the US car manufacturer expects production to be lost for days at its plant in Grünheide, the only production site in Europe.
According to Tesla, the consequences of the power outage are enormous: “We currently do not expect that we will be able to ramp up production again this week,” said plant manager Thierig.
“Almost all of the approximately 12,000 employees had to be sent home because of the production standstill.” Thierig spoke of damage “in the high nine-figure range.”
Electric cars have been built in Grünheide for almost two years.
The company wants to increase its production in Grünheide from the planned 500,000 cars a year to one million.
The factory manager said: “I can’t say at this point whether this will have an impact on the further expansion of the factory.”
Woidke: “Form of terrorism”
The police are continuing to investigate whether a left-wing extremist group is responsible.
Unknown perpetrators set fire to a power pole in a field.
There was a blackout at Tesla and the factory was evacuated.
But tens of thousands of residents in the region were also affected.
There is talk of terrorism in politics.
“Attacks on our critical infrastructure are a form of terrorism,” said Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD).
The “Vulkan Group,” classified as left-wing extremist, said in a letter that it was responsible for the attack on the power supply: “We sabotaged Tesla today.”
CDU state leader Jan Redmann said on Platform X (formerly Twitter) that the letter of commitment to Tesla was clear.
“A left-wing terrorist group is violently attacking our way of life and business.” He expects the Federal Prosecutor General to take over the investigation.
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Increased controls on critical infrastructure announced
Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) wants to prevent sensitive infrastructure from being attacked again with increased controls and police patrols.
Economics Minister Jörg Steinbach (SPD) also said that the country wanted to ensure greater security and was taking a close look at the critical infrastructure.
“But it must also be clear to everyone at this point - in the end you are not immune to a terrorist attack,” said Steinbach.
“If we were to monitor all high-voltage pylons very intensively, our water supply or disposal would perhaps come into focus,” said Brandenburg’s CDU leader Redmann on RBB Inforadio.
Of course, it is now important to identify and protect particularly sensitive areas - for example the places where aerial cables went into the ground.
“There are different concepts, whether you do it with fences, with video surveillance - drones are also being discussed.”
DIHK demands action from the federal government
DIHK Managing Director Wansleben said that with a view to critical infrastructure, the so-called Kritis umbrella law was going in the right direction.
The aim is to improve the level of protection for operators of critical systems and to support their own security efforts.
“The measures should therefore be viewed in the context of the regulations on cyber protection of critical infrastructures.” However, the federal government has been delaying the adoption of the relevant law for months.
The entrance area of the Tesla factory in Grünheide is deserted on Wednesday morning.
© Lutz Deckwerth/dpa
The public sector should provide companies with precise information on the current security situation - cyber and analogue threats - with concrete recommendations for action.
In the event of damage, companies would need support.
“This requires clear state responsibilities as well as appropriate staffing and networking of the federal and state supervisory authorities,” emphasized Wansleben.
dpa