Climate activists block coal-fired power plant in Jänschwalde

Climate activists broke into the site of the coal-fired power plant in Jänschwalde in southern Brandenburg on Monday morning. They occupied rails, track systems and conveyor belts, as a spokesman for the Cottbus police reported. The demonstrators did not enter the opencast mine. The first people were taken into custody, said police spokesman Maik Kettlitz. The police are in the process of releasing activists from the tracks and conveyor systems in three different areas.

The spokesman said he could not yet provide any information on the number of people on the site. According to its own statements, the South Police Department was deployed with a larger contingent. The riot police support the police officers from the region, it said.

The "Involuntary Fire Brigade" group announced that around 40 people were on the site and were blocking, among other things, the coal bunker and the track connections to the power plant. Some had chained themselves to conveyor belts, it said. According to their own statements, the blockers want their action to protest against the operation of the Jänschwalde opencast mine and the consequences of lignite-fired power generation in the Jänschwalde power plant. "We are taking the coal exit into our own hands here and now," said a spokeswoman.

Thoralf Schirmer, spokesman for the energy company Leag, confirmed that people were at the so-called trench bunker, where coal is stored.

The operator of the power plant spoke of an "attack on the security of supply". Two blocks were completely taken off the grid, Schirmer said. "This means that half of the power plant is not in operation." This means a reduction of one gigawatt. "This electricity is not available in the supply," he says.

"It is clear that it is a crime," said the police spokesman. Investigated for disruption of public services and trespassing. According to Kettlitz, a protest should not be carried out at the expense of the energy supply.

Leag is the operator of the lignite power plant in Jänschwalde, the third largest in Germany. In addition to the four active power plant units, two reserve units are currently being reactivated in the plant about 15 kilometers north of Cottbus. They are scheduled to go online again on October 1 due to the energy crisis in order to have more energy security.