What happened

A deliberately caused short circuit near an Amprion substation at Rommerskirchen, close to Bergheim, took several transmission lines and five RWE lignite units off the grid. The affected units were Neurath G and F and Niederaußem H, G and K, with 4,200 megawatts of combined capacity; they were supplying about 3,000 MW when disconnected. RWE said Neurath G and Niederaußem H, totalling about 1,600 MW, returned on 2 September, with Neurath F expected later that day and Niederaußem G and K during the weekend. Reserve capacity prevented a general power outage. Police said the available evidence did not indicate a technical defect and treated the incident as a deliberate crime, but the method, perpetrator and motive remained under investigation. This record does not connect the incident to the separate explosive-device attack at Turnow-Preilack earlier the same day or attribute it to a state or political group. The marker is an approximate substation-area reference rather than a verified damage coordinate.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.