Blast at substation: Three communities suddenly lose power

A technical fault at an electrical substation cut power to parts of the region north-east of Stuttgart for around three hours on Monday, July 13, 2026. At approximately 12:22 p.m., a malfunction in the high-voltage switchgear at the Remseck-Aldingen substation caused a flashover and heavy smoke. Shortly afterwards, the facility’s 110-kilovolt supply failed. The affected areas included Aldingen and Pattonville in the Ludwigsburg district, as well as the Fellbach districts of Schmiden and Oeffingen in the Rems-Murr district.

For local residents, the power cut was quickly joined by a second concern. Germany’s NINA emergency warning app issued an alert about a cloud of smoke and the possible release of insulating gas. Authorities temporarily told people to go inside, keep windows and doors closed and switch off any air-conditioning systems. At first, possible health effects could not be ruled out. Fire crews arrived with specialist personnel and measuring equipment. They later gave the all-clear: tests did not detect any gases harmful to health, and the public warning was withdrawn.

What made the incident particularly serious was that the substation had already caused problems the previous day. On Sunday, a grass fire close to the site had damaged a cable distribution cabinet and a line leading to the substation. That incident also left several communities without electricity for roughly two hours. On Monday morning, repaired sections of the installation were due to be re-energized. According to the network operator, another fault then developed in the high-voltage switchgear. The second incident therefore appears to have been a direct consequence of Sunday’s disruption rather than an unrelated event.

The sequence made the situation unusual: first a fire outside the main substation, then repair work, and finally another failure when the equipment was switched back on. Emergency services and network technicians had to manage a possible hazardous-material release, a fire and the loss of an important regional electricity distribution point at the same time. The precautionary warning was therefore taken seriously not only in Remseck but also in neighboring affected areas. The later clean measurements did not change the fact that the situation was initially unclear and potentially dangerous.

While firefighters extinguished the fire and inspected the facility, Netze BW worked to reroute the electricity supply. Network switching allowed full service to be restored to Pattonville and Aldingen at 3:03 p.m.. Power also returned to the other affected areas. In total, the interruption lasted about three hours. Normal operation of the facility had not yet resumed, however. The high-voltage switchgear remained under technical examination while customers were temporarily supplied through alternative transmission routes.

According to the information published so far, there are no indications of outside interference or deliberate damage. Investigators are focusing on the technical connection between Sunday’s grass fire, the damaged components and the fault that occurred when the equipment was re-energized on Monday. The detailed analysis has not yet been completed.

The incident shows how quickly a single fault in a regional switching facility can affect several communities at once. Within minutes, a technical problem became a combined power outage, fire-service operation and official public warning. Electricity returned after only a few hours, but for those affected the outage arrived without warning and in the middle of the day.

Source: Netze BW; SWR and Tagesschau; City of Remseck am Neckar. Information current as of 13 July 2026.