Australian Energy Regulator begins complex court action against wind farms and gas-fired plant over blackouts

South Australians were hit when the lights went out in 2016 and 2017. Now the Australian Energy Regulator wants the generator companies to feel a bit of the pain.

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Working out whether wind farms did contribute to causing the statewide blackout will be complex, the Federal Court heard on Friday.

Opening a group of landmark cases, Chief Justice James Allsop was urged to consider the issue in two steps — firstly the science of what actually happened and secondly what level, if any, of blame could be attributed to four wind farms which the Australian Energy Regulator wants penalised.

Acknowledging the effect of the cases could extend into public policy, Chief Justice Allsop said he wanted to establish an efficient pathway for argument to be heard.

Chief Justice James Allsop.

“One thing to consider and discuss in a cooperative way, appreciating that there are penal consequences involved, is the question of how the science should be dealt with,” he said.

This could be the traditional method of agreeing on some matters and then having opposing views presented.

However there may be “alternative views which would reduce cost, reduce time and, most importantly, maximise the efficiency and reliability of decision-making”.

The alternatives could include the court facilitating expert witness.

The Australian Energy Regulator is taking action against four farms — Hornsdale, Snowtown, Pacific Hydro’s Clement’s Gap and AGL’s Hallett 1.

AGL said the basic science of what happened should be agreed first before the court considered causation which was “of great technical complexity”.

The regulator alleges the wind farms should have been able to ride through six voltage disturbances which occurred within 90 seconds on September 28, 2016.

The regulator’s earlier investigations found that “a severe storm damaged transmission and distribution electricity assets in the lower Eyre Peninsula and Mid North region of South Australia, triggering a chain of events leading to a statewide power outage”.

Tornadoes with wind speeds of 190-260km/h damaged threemajor transmission lines.

The storm activity and damage to transmission lines created the voltage disturbances.

This led to several wind farms shutting down, followed by the SA-Victoria interconnector shutting down and then remaining generators tripping off.

Separately, the regulator is also taking action against Pelican Point Power — a gas-fired power plant — over the blackout on February 8, 2017, which affected some 90,000 homes in SA.

The regulator alleges the Australian Energy Market Operator should have been told by Pelican Point that its second turbine was available to operate.

Pelican Point told the court its case would hinge on interpretation of electricity rules.

The Chief Justice, who is hearing the matters with Justice Anthony Besanko, said the cases would return to court in December.