On 1 July 2021, the Federal Court ordered that HWF 1 Pty Ltd (Hornsdale) had breached the National Electricity Rules (NER) by failing to obtain written approval for critical system settings in its wind farm from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and network service provider ElectraNet.
The Federal Court found that Hornsdale contravened clauses 4.4.3 and S5.2.2 of the NER between 2 June 2016 and 10 October 2016 by operating the generating units of the Hornsdale wind farm and allowing those generating units to supply electricity to the power system when the settings for the repeat low voltage ride-through protection system applied to them had not been approved in writing by the network service provider or the Australian Energy Market Operator.
The Court ordered by consent that Hornsdale pay a civil penalty of $550,000, implement a compliance program and contribute to the AER’s legal costs.