Power outage caused by arson attack on gas-fired power plant in Berlin-Lichterfelde

In the early morning of 3 January 2026, an arson attack struck Berlin's electricity grid at a cable bridge near a combined heat-and-power plant in the city's Lichterfelde district. According to reporting including CNBC and documented accounts of the incident, the fire destroyed several high-voltage and medium-voltage cables, cutting power across parts of south-west Berlin in what was described as the longest power outage in the German capital since 1945.

The outage left more than 40,000 households and over 2,000 businesses without electricity, with reporting estimating that roughly 100,000 people were affected. Because the attack occurred during a deep winter cold spell, many residents also lost heating. Schools and daycare centres closed, hospitals and nursing homes were affected, and overground rail services and mobile-phone networks were disrupted. Power was restored progressively, with full restoration reported on 7 January 2026.

A letter claiming responsibility was posted online in the name of the "Vulkangruppe," a left-wing extremist label, framing the action as a protest against the fossil-fuel energy industry. Berlin's State Criminal Police assessed the letter as authentic. Days later, a separate entity using the same name publicly distanced itself from the action. On 6 January 2026, the investigation was transferred from Berlin police to the Federal Prosecutor General on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organisation.

The attack fits an established pattern of sabotage targeting Western energy and grid infrastructure, demonstrating how a single, low-cost physical strike on an unguarded cable corridor can cascade into days-long disruption affecting tens of thousands during extreme cold. While responsibility was claimed in the name of the "Vulkangruppe," the claim remains unverified and a competing distancing statement underscores the difficulty of attribution. The transfer to the Federal Prosecutor General under terrorism statutes signals the severity with which German authorities regard the threat to critical infrastructure.