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For all the latest energy safety news visit www.esv.vic.gov.au
May 2014
energysafe issue 35
Interim report into
Morwell power outage
Saving lives
this winter
With winter just a few weeks away, ESV
joined with Vanessa Robinson to remind
Victorians of the need to service gas
heaters at least every two years.
ESV launched Carbon Monoxide Awareness
Week (28 April–1 May) in the Bourke St Mall
and also visited other shopping centres.
ESV has released its interim report into
the electrical fault at the Morwell Terminal
Station on 4 April that led to a dramatic
flashover and loss of supply to customers
in Gippsland.
The investigation has found that the incident
was the result of a short-circuit on one phase of a
66kV powerline and that two protection systems
that are designed to stop the flow of electricity in
the event of a fault failed to operate.
The network’s primary protection system
did not operate due to an incorrect relay setting
while the secondary system failed due to a faulty
component. The circumstances of the two failures
are still to be determined.
Without the protection systems, the affected
powerline overheated and subsequently
failed, falling on to two other powerlines and
infrastructure within the terminal station. The
protection systems on the other powerlines and
within the terminal station operated as expected,
removing current from those lines. This led to
the loss of electrical supply experienced by
80,000 customers in Gippsland.
No link was found between the fault and the
recent fire at the Hazelwood Mine.
ESV’s Director of Energy Safety, Paul Fearon,
said while the cause of the initial fault was still
Clipsal surface sockets recalled
Safety concerns: Clipsal 413 surface sockets have been recalled due to concerns that the red and green
terminal colour identification has been reversed on some products.
Schneider Electric (Australia) Pty Ltd has
issued a recall for Clipsal 413 surface
sockets (PRA number 2014/14008).
The recall was issued in March because the
red and green terminal colour identification has
been reversed on some products. If the active and
earth wires are terminated to match the colours,
there is a risk of electric shock if the surface
socket is used with a class 1 (earthed) appliance.
The affected products were available for sale
nationally by electrical wholesalers between
9 January and 21 February 2014.
The identifying features are: Cat No-413-WE,
Batch code 201348, PR413-WE, MP413-WE.
Consumers concerned about electrical
installation work carried out since 9 January
have been advised to contact the electrician
who carried out the work to evaluate the risk.
Further information on
the recall is available by
clicking here or going to
Clipsal.com/413recall or by
telephoning 1300 733 907.
to be determined, investigators had ruled out a
link to the Hazelwood fire as ash, dust or other
contaminants had not been found on
the insulators.
“Faults like this are not uncommon on the
network and are often caused by animals or
vegetation impacting powerlines or by asset
failure,” he said. “If the protection systems had
operated as they are designed to there would
have been no widespread loss of supply.
“Protection systems are complex and always
have back-ups so two levels of failure is rare. ESV
is working with SP AusNet to determine why these
failures occurred so we can ensure that it doesn’t
happen again.”
Mr Fearon said SP AusNet had subsequently
checked the relays in 13 identical protection
systems across its network and confirmed that
all were set correctly. Protection systems on the
line where the fault occurred have also been
tested and no other faults have been identified.
A final report will be released later this year.
Click here to read ESV’s interim
report into the electrical fault at
the Morwell Terminal Station.
Smart meter
health study
In February the Minister for
Energy and Resources, Nicholas
Kotsiras, asked the Department of
State Development, Business and
Innovation (DSDBI) to commission
a new technical study into the safety
of smart meters.
The Minister said it was designed
to confirm whether the electromagnetic
emissions from the meters continued to fall
within national health and safety standards
set by the Australian Radiation Protection
and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).
The government said this new round
of testing would update previous studies
and help build community confidence in
the safety of smart meters.
In July 2012 ESV released a repor t into
the electrical safety of Victoria’s smart meters.
The report concluded that smart meters are
safe, do not pose any greater electrical safety
risk than the meters they have replaced, and
that there is no evidence to suggest that smart
meters are exploding or causing fires.
You can read this report by clicking
here or by going to the ESV website at
www.esv.vic.gov.au