A group of people calling themselves “The Volcano Society” sabotaged the only high-voltage power pole near the Tesla factory in Grunheide, Germany, causing an entire area of more than 60,000 residents in Brandenburg and even some places around the capital Berlin. also affected by power outages.

The incident has raised media questions about the ability to protect infrastructure in Germany from vandals, environmental activists and even criminals.

“The destruction of the Gigafactory of ‘miserable’ technology tycoon Elon Musk is a step on the path to liberation,” the group’s statement sent to the media stated, playing with the word “Elon” as “Elend”, means “miserable” in German.

Senior director Andre Thierig of the Tesla factory in Germany estimates that losses could reach nearly $1 billion due to having to stop producing 1,000 cars per day.

Currently, this Tesla factory is the first Gigafactory in Europe, specializing in producing Model Y models for most left-hand drive markets, including Germany.

“Fools”

“These are the stupidest environmentalist-terrorists on the planet,” Elon Musk had to exclaim after the news that the Tesla factory was sabotaged.

In theory, the Tesla factory in Germany still has emergency power, but they need a local transformer station to connect to the high-voltage grid.

However, the attack by the above environmental protection group severed the line between the transformer station and the high voltage network, causing the factory’s emergency power source to also be damaged.

Because there was no electricity, the factory’s ventilation system and equipment could not operate, forcing 12,500 employees to leave and wait a few days before the power grid could be repaired.

“We don’t think production can recover this week,” director Thierig said.

The vandals have not yet been arrested, although vandalism has often occurred in Germany in the past when people claiming to be environmentalists burned down electric cables, telecommunications cables or even train tracks. in some remote locations but located on production transportation routes.

Every 1-2 years, many of these small groups carry out infrastructure sabotage activities that are not taken seriously by the government.

Even the German Federal Association for the Protection of Infrastructure (BSKI) had to speak out saying that these targets are nothing more than easy prey for vandals when not properly protected.

“We need to protect essential infrastructure for business operations the same way we would a military facility,” said BSKI Vice President Hans Walter Borries.

Making money is not easy

Fortune said the sabotage group had planned to target the energy supplies for the Tesla factory since May 2021, when this project was still under construction.

The main reason is that the construction of Tesla’s Gigafactory did not receive the support of many local people. A series of protests took place when people camped around forests to prevent cutting down trees to build factories.

Later, a report cited data from local water company WSE showing evidence that Tesla’s factory had polluted water sources over the past two years. The concentration of harmful compounds such as phosphorus and nitrogen is 6 times higher than the allowable limit.

This has caused the operations of the Tesla factory in Germany to face many challenges. It is even possible that sabotage incidents like the above will continue.

“We firmly support Tesla and will do everything in our power to prevent any further attacks,” Brandenberg region industry minister Jörg Steinbach had to reassure Tesla.

Meanwhile, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has condemned acts of sabotage, saying they have characteristics similar to terrorism.

“Whether these problems will affect the factory expansion or not, I cannot say,” Tesla director Thierig said worriedly.

The above information is said to be quite bad for Elon Musk when Tesla factory output in Europe was delayed because ships carrying batteries from Asia could not pass through the Suez Canal because of the Houthi rebels’ attack in the Red Sea.