On the 5th, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany, halted production due to a fire suspected of an arson attack by a group at a nearby substation facility.
According to Reuters and other foreign media reports, a fire broke out at the Steinfurt substation near the Tesla factory. The fire did not spread inside the Tesla factory, and local firefighters are suppressing the fire. Repairs are also underway for damaged power towers and other damaged power networks.
The police responded after receiving a warning call about the burning electric tower immediately after the fire. They are investigating the possibility of arson and protests opposing the expansion of the Tesla factory.
It was also reported that a bomb disposal team was dispatched after a sign saying “weapons are buried here” was found inside.
An activist organization called Volcano Group claimed responsibility for the incident, stating, “Our goal is the destruction of Giga Berlin. As part of our protest against American manufacturers, we sabotaged Tesla.”
In response, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk criticized them on his Twitter, “They are either the stupidest eco-terrorists on the planet or puppets of people who don’t have good environmental goals.” He added, “Attacking the production of electric vehicles, not fossil fuel vehicles, is foolish.”
Michael Stubgen, the Interior Minister for Brandenburg state, warned, “We should respond with utmost seriousness,” but “we should not jump to conclusions before the perpetrator is confirmed.”
Recently, Tesla faced supply disruptions due to union pressure from the collective bargaining agreement in Northern Europe and transportation difficulties in the Red Sea, and the production halt at the Berlin Gigafactory seems to add more.
Tesla had plans to expand this Gigafactory located in Grunheide, southeast of Berlin. They had been pushing for a factory expansion to double the battery production capacity to 100 gigawatt-hours and increase the current annual production of 500,000 to 1 million units.
However, residents in the Grunheide strongly opposed cutting down trees in the forest for factory expansion, and the voice of opposition has grown, causing conflict. Last month, Grunheide citizens voted against the proposal to remove the forest to build additional logistics spaces like train stations or warehouses, and they were waiting for a decision from the government.
In response, environmental activists have been building houses on trees in all 12 areas of the forest, which are expected to be cleared if the factory expansion proceeds. They have been doing so since the 28th of last month and have continued their protest. They stated that there is a possibility that the occupation of the forest will last for a long time during the “Stop Tesla” campaign and expressed strong opposition to the expansion of the Tesla factory.
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