Fire in Froges on a site of RTE: the company ST Micro targeted, the ultra-left suspected
Le Dauphiné, April 4, 2022
The hypothesis for an act committed by activists of the ultra-left is favored by the investigators of the gendarmerie, learned the Dauphiné Libéré this Monday near the public prosecutor’s office of Grenoble after the destruction by fire committed in the enclosure of a transformer site of RTE (Réseau de transport d’électricité) in Froges.
As we revealed this Monday morning, this site was targeted in the night of Sunday to Monday by incendiaries: unknown people managed to enter the premises and to spread the fire to cables on a transformer. The damage would be important on this site but would not impact the distribution of electricity in the sector at the moment.
Inscriptions including the symbol of anarchy were found, targeting the ST Microelectronics company based in Crolles, accused by these same tags of being an excessive consumer of electricity. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the power supply to the ST Micro site was not significantly disrupted by this action. The research brigade of the Meylan company has been assigned to the investigation.
Update (Le Dauphiné, April 4, 7:25 pm): “The STMicroelectronics company based in Crolles has confirmed that it has experienced a temporary power cut after an arson attack on an RTE substation in Froges. The emergency power supply has been switched on.”
STMicroelectronics is a Franco-Italian multinational company that designs, manufactures and markets electronic chips (semiconductors). It is one of the world’s leading players in the semiconductor production economic sector, and re-entered the CAC 40 in September 2017.
STMicro targeted in electrical substation arson
Le Dauphiné, April 5, 2022
It’s been more than a year since the ultra-left and libertarian activists who regularly attack capitalist or technological symbols in Isère had made their presence felt in the department. By attacking an important site of RTE during the night of Sunday to Monday, these teams have signed their first action of the year 2022, this signature having been noted in the enclosure of this high voltage station of Froges, in the form of an anarchist symbol left behind by the arsonists.
Specific lines targeted by the arsonists
The public prosecutor’s office was quick to confirm to the Dauphiné Libéré on Monday morning that the hypothesis favored by the investigators of the research brigade of Meylan was that of an action carried out by the ultra-left. The time (2:40 am) and the date of this sabotage action – the nights from Sunday to Monday are preferred by these activists to carry out this type of attack – as well as the objective itself tend to corroborate this hypothesis, even if, on Monday evening, April 4, no claim had yet been posted on one of the usual sites of this movement.
After entering the premises, probably by climbing the enclosure of the site located on Paul-Langevin Boulevard (RD 523), the activists set fire to very precise wiring elements on a very high voltage substation. Contacted, the services of RTE gave no information on this installation. But it is known that it is the very high voltage buried lines (225 000 volts) that are three kilometers long and link this post of Froges to the transformer of STMicroelectronics in Crolles, which were targeted and burned at their origin by the activists.
High technologies hated
It was learned on Monday afternoon that the arsonists had, to some extent, succeeded, since STMicroelectronics told the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper that a “temporary power cut had occurred at the Crolles site,” “following an incident on an electrical substation outside the site. “The safety procedures were triggered, including the emergency power supply. All systems ensuring the safety of employees and installations remained in operation. The site is operational and an analysis of this incident is underway,” said the management of STMicroelectronics, which employs about 4,400 people in Crolles.
Why was this major industrial site in the Grenoble area targeted? There are no clear answers at the moment. Tags stigmatizing the very high electricity consumption of this company were nevertheless found by the investigators near the anarchist symbol. Beyond that, it is likely that STMicro was targeted as an emblematic company of the development of high technology, which is hated by the libertarian and anti-capitalist movement.
Fire in Froges on a site of RTE: the company ST Micro targeted, the ultra-left suspected