Berlin is facing one of the most serious power outages in recent years, after a fire occurred in the power transmission infrastructure in the Lichterfelde area, southwest of the capital.
The incident caused tens of thousands of households and business establishments to fall into prolonged power outages, in cold air conditions, causing significant obstacles to the recovery work.
According to Stromnetz Berlin - the city's power grid operator, the fire broke out in the early morning of January 3 (local time), damaging an important power cable bridge, leading to power outage in many residential and commercial areas of Steglitz and Zehlendorf.
In an official announcement, Stromnetz Berlin said that the power restoration at Lichterfelde is expected to be completed by the end of January 3, while all affected customers may have to wait until the afternoon of January 8, 2026 for power to be restored.
“Repairing will take a lot of time,” Stromnetz Berlin emphasized, while acknowledging that cold weather conditions are significantly slowing down the progress of repairing the incident.
Initial estimates show that about 45,000-50,000 households and nearly 2,000 German businesses have been affected by this widespread power outage. Many important facilities such as nursing homes, hospitals, social organizations and businesses are also on the affected list.
Ms. Franziska Giffey - Berlin's economic senator - described this as "a particularly serious power outage incident", emphasizing the large scale of the impact and the risks to the city's essential services.
Berlin police said they had deployed about 160 officers to the scene in the Lichterfelde area. An investigation was opened "with suspicion of arson", after initial signs showed that the fire was not an accident.
The incident also affected the operation of some stations in Berlin, when electronic information boards and automatic ticket vending machines could not operate due to power outages. However, officials said that trains continued to run according to schedule.
