On 1 July 2021, the Federal Court ordered that Pacific Hydro Clements Gap Pty Ltd (Pacific Hydro) 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 Pacific Hydro contravened clauses 4.4.3 and S5.2.2 of the NER between 6 August 2013 and 3 October 2016 by operating the generating units of the Clements Gap 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 Pacific Hydro pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million, implement a compliance program and contribute to the AER’s legal costs.