Regulator 'didn't know' wind farm settings

Safety settings that switched off some SA wind farms during recent storms were not known to the Australian Energy Market Operator, its chief officer says.

The Australian Energy Market Operator did not know about safety settings on some South Australian wind farms that led them to switch off before September's statewide blackout.

The regulator's chief officer Mike Cleary says the regulator "did not know that these settings were there" but that wind farm owners are responsible for them.

"That issue is between the wind farm owners and manufacturers in relation to how they protect their equipment," he told ABC radio on Thursday.

"All equipment operates to a set of tolerances and a set of control mechanisms.

"Those control mechanisms are the responsibility of the owners of the equipment to make sure the equipment isn't damaged."

He said some wind farm owners were already working with the manufacturers of their turbines to better understand their settings and consider changing them.

A report from AEMO, released on Wednesday, found nine of 13 wind farms online at the time of the September 28 blackout switched off when major transmission lines were brought down by severe weather.

It found the inability of the wind farms to ride through those disturbances was the result of safety settings that forced them to disconnect or reduce output.

Mr Cleary said it was still too early to apportion blame for the blackout.

He said so far AEMO had found it "operated the system consistent with our procedures" but the body still had much investigating to do.

"This is a much longer assessment which will take up to six months, where we have to investigate all aspects of how the system operated," he said.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world