Farmers warned to watch out for sharp shards of plastic flying off Golden Plains Wind Farm turbines

Victorian farmers have been warned to take extra safety precautions at their properties after sharp serrated edging began flying off the state’s new green-energy wind turbines.

Farmers have been urged to wear hard hats when working nearby the Golden Plains Wind Farm after the turbines began dropping shards of sharp plastic.

Victorian farmers are being told to wear hard hats on their properties as shards of sharp plastic fly off brand new wind turbines.

Locals in Victoria’s rural west have reported finding pieces of wind turbines, including serrated trailing edges, in the vicinity of the $3 billion green-energy project.

Owners of the federal and state government-backed Golden Plains Wind Farm — 65km northwest of Geelong — contacted neighbouring landowners earlier this month to warn them about “blade serration detachment” following wild winds.

The letter asked farmers to consider delaying works until further assessments could be undertaken.

“During this time, whilst we expect the risk of further detachment to be low given the extreme weather event has subsided, we recommend hard hats be worn if critical farming works (outside of a vehicle) are required to be completed within 400m of the turbines,” they said.

“If works without are not critical, we recommend postponing until the second risk assessment is completed and further communications are issued.”

Farmers neighbouring the Golden Plains Wind Farm near Geelong have been finding pieces of sharp plastic that has fallen off the brand new turbines. Picture: Supplied

One of the serrated segments that Russell Coad found on his farm. Picture: Supplied

Western Victoria Liberal MP Bev McArthur, who raised the issue in parliament last week, said her constituents were finding pieces as far as 750 metres from the turbines.

“One of my constituents, Russell Coad, found these serrated trailing edges 750 metres from the turbine on his farm, and other pieces fell within metres of the Barunah CFA fire shed,” she said.

“The extreme weather event which caused this problem for the turbines was — you have guessed it — wind.

“If this is happening with brand new turbines, what will happen in future decades?”

A spokesman from renewable energy company Vestas told the Sunday Herald Sun it had been liaising with WorkSafe on this matter.

A piece of the serrated feathering off one of the Golden Plains wind turbines that was blown on to a family farm. Picture: Supplied

She said the detachment of small plastic strips from the turbine was associated with extreme wind events.

“In this case the detachment was associated with an extreme wind event which occurred in a short window of time before the wind turbines could be energised,” she said.

“Once energised and operating the turbines steer themselves into the wind and are thus much less susceptible to extreme weather events.”

She said a “full root cause analysis is underway”.

“Appropriate safety measures have been implemented and communicated to landowners and the site is now open with installation and commissioning works having resumed,” she said.

The $3 billion project is set to become Australia’s largest wind farm and will power more than 765,000 homes.

A Victorian government last year said the green-energy project would “play a key role in helping meet Victoria’s ambitious 95 per cent renewable energy target by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2045”.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said: “Golden Plains Wind Farm is assisting WorkSafe to monitor the issue to ensure risks to health and safety are adequately addressed.”

“Public safety is the highest priority and the owners and operators of windfarms must comply with strict energy safety laws and regulations.”