Repair completed

Tesla plant back online after attack

The Tesla plant in Grünheide near Berlin has been supplied with electricity again since Monday evening.(Bild: AP)

Following an attack on the power supply at the Tesla car manufacturer in Grünheide near Berlin, the plant is back online (see video above). The repair work was completed much earlier than initially expected, the responsible network operator Edis announced on Monday evening.

Tesla had previously expected production to remain at a standstill until the end of this week due to the power outage. As reported, previously unknown perpetrators had set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field around a week ago. This is responsible for supplying the Tesla factory. Production came to a standstill after the arson attack, which was claimed by the left-wing extremist "Volcano Group". There was also a power cut in the logistics center, among other places.

The Tesla plant in Grünheide near Berlin has been supplied with electricity again since Monday evening.(Bild: AP)

The factory site is 300 hectares in size and is set to be expanded.(Bild: AFP)

According to the energy supplier Edis, the decisive switching in the grid control center took place at 8.45 p.m. on Monday. "Since then, the power supply has been restored." The decisive factor was the result of a high-voltage measurement.

Damage amounts to hundreds of millions of euros
Tesla plant manager André Thierig put the damage at hundreds of millions of euros last Tuesday. At the time, however, he only expected the outage to last until around Sunday. The attack on the electricity pylon has triggered a broad debate in Germany about better protection for energy grids.

The background to the protest is that the electric car manufacturer wants to build a goods station, warehouses and a company kindergarten next to the 300-hectare factory site. More than 100 hectares of forest are to be cleared for this purpose.