Tesla halted operations at Gigafactory Berlin due to power outages. Sabotage by eco-activists is suspected

Tesla was forced to halt work at Gigafactory Berlin after a significant power outage, which may have been caused by sabotage.

It has been a tough few weeks for Tesla's factory in Berlin, the only car manufacturer plant in Europe, reports Electrek. Firstly, it had to slow down production due to supply chain issues amidst problems with cargo ships passing through the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait (exit from the Red Sea) due to the civil war in Yemen.

Then local residents of Grünheide, the municipality where Tesla Gigafactory Berlin is located, voted against the expansion of the factory, which requires clearing more than 100 hectares of forest. At the same time, environmental activists set up a camp in the forest outside the factory to try to stop the expansion.

In the end, Tesla was forced to stop production and evacuate the plant amid a potential threat of sabotage to the power supply. According to reports, unknown individuals set fire to a high-voltage support between the towns of Steinfurt and Hartmannsdorf early Tuesday morning, leaving about 2000 people without power, including Gigafactory in Berlin.

The Minister of the Interior of the state of Brandenburg, Michael Stübgen (CDU), spoke of a "perfidious attack" on the power supply infrastructure. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but there are rumors that the target is Tesla, based on the location and timing of the attack, as environmental activists are calling for action against the company.

Tesla informed local media in Germany that it has secured the safety of the plant, but it is unclear when it will be able to resume production due to the power supply situation. After consultations with the electricity supplier EDIS, the company does not expect a quick restart of production.