When did AGL find out about the fires on Saturday 17 March and how was it monitored from there on?

AGL personnel in our Melbourne office monitoring the AGL wind farms became aware of fires in the area at 20:52 and began monitoring the fire from that time. During the night this was escalated up the line as further information came to hand.

AGL’s Emergency Response team monitored the situation closely from our Incident Control Centre at our Loy Yang Power Station and our Dispatch Centre at our Head Office in Melbourne.

The Emergency Response Manager attended AGL's Incident Control Centre at our Loy Yang Power Station and engaged with emergency services personnel from there. The Gas and Renewables Manager notified the Wind and Solar Manager, who attended the Dispatch Centre at AGL's Bourke Street office and was in contact with local Vestas staff. This group remained in touch throughout the night and reconvened at 7 am and again at midday on Sunday.

AGL was in contact with emergency services and Vestas staff throughout the event.

In an emergency response scenario, AGL have the following protection priorities:

1. People (protect the health, safety and wellbeing of those involved (e.g. staff, contractors, landholders, neighbours and the community)
2. Environment (protect, preserve and restore the environment)
3. Assets (protect and repair property)
4. Reputation (provide key stakeholders with timely, consistent and accurate information)
5. Liability (facilitate a prompt return to business as usual with minimal losses following the event)

What were the conditions on the evening of Saturday 17 March and early morning of Sunday 18 March during the fire?

AGL monitored the wind continually throughout the night. Macarthur Wind Farm was generating winds at about 17.2m/s (62 km/hr) until about midnight. The wind then reduced to about 9.4m/s (34 km/hr) before stabilising at about 12m/s (43m/s).

Why did Macarthur Wind Farm continue to operate during this time?

Many locals in the area were relying on electrical power to monitor and fight the fire, so while it may seem that shutting down the windfarm would improve the situation for the local communities, this could then threaten the power network, which could have made the situation worse. These are just some of the challenges assessed and acted on throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.

It is also important to understand that wind turbines are not fans. They take energy from the wind, so actually decelerate the wind as it passes through the farm, as opposed to fanning it. In a bushfire or grassfire, the fire creates its own wind and draft stream, which may account for the wind speeds described by the neighbour in your email. This happens irrespective of whether there is a wind farm operating in the area.

Why did other local wind farms stop operating?

Yumbuk, Codrington and Oaklands Hill wind farms are all part of the network connected to the Terang substation that was impacted by the Terang fire. When this substation tripped, it tripped these wind farms. Macarthur, being on a different network and connected to the substation at Tarrone which was not impacted by the fire, was not impacted in a similar manner.

How was the decision made to shut down Macarthur Wind Farm the following Thursday?

Victoria Police, acting in collaboration with the Penshurst CFA, contacted AGL to request the turbines be shut down to allow for aerial water bombing. AGL received a phone call from Victoria Police at 1.20 pm and was fully shut down by 1.30 pm. So, the Macarthur Wind Farm shut down within 10 minutes of being instructed by Victoria Police to do so.

The wind farm did not become operational again until all parties agreed it was safe to do so.

Further information

Phone: 1800 039 600

Email: AGLCommunity@agl.com.au

AGL was pleased to host seven out of nine Moyne Shire Councillors at Macarthur Wind Farm recently. The Councillors undertook a tour of the site and workshop including a tour of the Vestas turbine simulator. AGL's David Spree, Senior Manager, Government and Community, Victoria, was on hand to hold a Q&A with Councillors, and followed up a few weeks later by providing Councillors with an overview of energy policy, both state and federal.

AGL has hosted several tours recently, including the Sunnyside Aged Care Facility, the Macarthur and District Association, the David Newman Centre, and Year 10 students from the Heywood and District Secondary College.

A men’s group from Sunnyside House – an aged care facility in Camperdown – recently toured the wind farm site. The group of men aged between 78 and 98 toured the southern edge of the site and got up close and personal with one of the turbines. They saw and heard first-hand how quickly they stop (and restart).

Michael, the group's driver, said the group really appreciated the effort AGL and Vestas had put in to showing them around. “The visit was originally suggested by Brian, one of the residents, whose son will soon be starting work at a Victorian wind farm. They’ve all had a great time, asking questions and trying to guess things like the height of the turbine and length of the blades,” he said.

The group closed the tour by acknowledging the birthday of Pauline, the carer on duty, with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, then headed on to Warrnambool for lunch.

AGL Energy was proud to be the major sponsor of Music in the Vines in 2017. Now in its second year, the festival was a huge success, with the crowd enjoying performances from a variety of local and national acts, and a great selection of local food and wine. Congratulations to the Music in the Vines committee for organising such a great event and, in particular, to Pieter and Michelle Badenhorst for being such wonderful hosts!

This year, Macarthur Wind Farm hosted a free bike ride on the morning of the festival as part of the 'Big Day Out Macarthur'. Taking in approximately 10 km of established road, the track through the wind farm is great for riders of all experience levels. As an added bonus, all riders received discounted entry to the festival.

AGL is looking forward to being part of Music in the Vines and the Macarthur Big Day Out in 2018 – keep an eye out for more updates.

We offered two rounds of funding in 2017.

The first round was announced in April 2017. Successful applicants included the Macarthur Cemetery Trust, MADA and the Macarthur-Hawkesdale Netball Club.

At an afternoon tea held in their honour, these grant recipients were treated to a special tour of the site workshop, included a visit to the simulator – a model of the inside of the nacelle which is used for training and continuous improvement purposes.

They also heard more about AGL’s generation portfolio and moves toward a carbon constrained future from Jeff Buckett, Asset Manager Wind and Solar. AGL’s recent rebrand was a key topic of conversation for the group, with a number commenting on the wind farm being featured in the new television commercial.

The second round of funding will be announced in early 2018.

Watch this space for announcements of 2018 rounds of funding through the AGL Community Fund. Meantime, if you have any questions please contact the AGL Community Team on 1800 036 600.

An independent report by Resonate Acoustics shows there was no measurable change to infrasound levels once Macarthur Wind Farm was operational. The report – which was voluntarily commissioned by AGL to help alleviate community concern about noise – was reviewed by internationally renowned low frequency acoustic expert, Dr Geoff Leventhall.

The aim of the assessment was to compare infrasound (noise at frequencies lower than 20 Hz) and low frequency noise (noise from frequencies of 10 Hz to 160 Hz) levels before and after construction. Measures were taken indoors at two residences, located 2.7 km and 1.8 km from the nearest turbine, during the following stages:

• Pre-operational – no wind turbine generators operating
• Interim – approximately 105 out of 140 operating
• Operational – all 140 operating.

The assessment shows that infrasound and low frequency noise levels from Macarthur Wind Farm are compliant with relevant assessment criteria at the two nearby residences.

For more information see:

• Macarthur Wind Farm Infrasound & Low Frequency Noise Operational Monitoring Results 

Macarthur Wind Farm is successfully operating within the strict noise limits set in the wind farm's State Planning Permit, as evidenced in the Macarthur Wind Farm Noise Compliance Assessment independently produced by AECOM Australia Pty Ltd (AECOM). This Noise Compliance Assessment is part of a wider noise monitoring program implemented by AGL since the first turbines started operating in late September 2012.

Noise data used in the analysis of the Noise Compliance Assessment report:

View the Noise Compliance Assessment report Part A and Part B that has been conducted in accordance with the relevant Standard and submitted to the Victorian Government for review.

The Planning Permit, which is enforced by the Victorian State Government, required that pending landowner approval, noise monitoring was to be carried out at specified dwellings neighboring the Macarthur Wind Farm. Noise loggers were installed between February and March 2013 to capture the noise data for this objective assessment.

The Planning Permit requires that the noise level from an operating wind farm, measured outdoors of a dwelling at any relevant nominated wind speed, shall not exceed the background noise level before the wind farm was operating by more than five dB(A) or a level of 40 dB(A) (whichever is higher). The combined noise levels were assessed at 10 minute intervals at the specified dwellings. Compliance was assessed throughout the entire day, and separately at night when the background noise level is typically lower.

The testing also monitored for special audible characteristics (clearly audible tones, impulses, or modulation of sound levels). Special audible characteristics were not determined to be present at any of the noise monitoring locations.

AGL has carried out extra noise monitoring at Macarthur Wind Farm since the first turbines started operating on 30 September 2012. All results confirm that it remains compliant with the strict noise limits set in the planning permit.

Monthly noise monitoring reports include:

• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012

If you have any questions about noise monitoring, please call the Community Relations team on 1800 039 600.

For wind speed and wind direction information, please visit wind.willyweather.com.au

An extensive two-year bat and avifauna mortality monitoring program at Macarthur Wind Farm studied mortality rates resulting from collision with the blades of wind turbines, with a particular focus on threatened species known to occur within the region.

Results show negligible effects on populations of threatened species. Key findings from the two-year monitoring program include:

• Only two collision mortalities of listed threatened species were detected during two years of intensive monitoring (a Black Falcon in 2013 and a Southern Bent-wing Bat in 2014)
• The birds that collided most commonly with turbines in 2014 were introduced Eurasian Skylarks
• The annual mortality of all native birds in 2014 was estimated at 3.31 ± 0.78 per turbine
• Amongst native birds, species of raptors were more prone to collision than any other group of birds, consistent with other wind farms in southern Australia

For more information see:

• Macarthur Wind Farm Bat and Avifauna Mortality Monitoring Report

The initial monitoring of Brolgas took place within the vicinity of the wind farm for two years post-construction.

Results of this initial study show that Macarthur Wind Farm does not appear to have had any detrimental impact on the local Brolga population, either from direct impact with turbines or displacement from habitat. There have been no Brolga collisions with turbines and Brolgas have successfully bred on the wind farm and continue to return to the site each year for the breeding season.

Additional monitoring was carried out during the 2016 breeding season, following record rainfall and flooding. The monitoring found a total of seven Brolgas, including three pairs and one chick, within three kilometres of the wind farm. All utilised wetlands habitats within the wind farm for most of the season.

For more information see:

• Macarthur Wind Farm Brolga Monitoring Report 2016
• Macarthur Wind Farm Brolga Monitoring Report 2014

A two-year bat monitoring program assessed bat species and their relative activity at different locations on the wind farm. As advised by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (formerly Department of Sustainability and Environment), monitoring was timed to coincide with the migratory periods of the Southern Bent-wing Bat in early autumn and late spring.

The subsequent report details the results of the autumn and spring 2014 monitoring periods. Overall bat activity was compared with that recorded during autumn and spring 2013 to examine changes in activity.

For more information see:

• Bat Activity at Macarthur Wind Farm Report