‘Huge potential for disaster’: Allan govt slammed for failing to ensure all wind turbines have fire suppression technology 

Victorian Shadow Emergency Services Minister Richard Riordan has taken aim at the government’s rush to introduce renewables.

The Allan government is facing calls to “immediately audit” Victoria’s 2,500 wind turbines, with alarms being raised about the huge fire risk they pose for regional communities.

On Sunday it was revealed the state’s energy safety regulator has no record of whether wind turbines that have been installed across Victoria have fire suppression systems installed, with the opposition describing the situation as a “complete abandonment of proper regulation”.

Shadow emergency services minister Richard Riordan spoke to Sky News Australia on Monday night, warning of the catastrophe that could occur if wind turbines catch fire in the middle of a hot Victorian summer.

Mr Riordan said that about 80 per cent of all deaths and property losses from fire stem from electrical blazes caused by power, transmission or distribution systems, and there were now 1,500 wind turbines in the system with another 900 planned.

“This is a huge potential for fire risk,” the shadow minister said.

“When these things catch on fire… at 200m into the air feeder on a screaming 40 degree day in February, these will shoot molten bits of fibreglass (and) boiling oil, over a huge radius – many kilometres potentially.

“And keeping in mind, these wind turbines – because of the way we’ve laid them out – are in the world’s most fire-prone grass plane, from one end of western Victoria to the other. It’s a huge risk.”

The shadow minister said many of these wind turbines were constructed in difficult to access terrain that would be “completely inaccessible” during a bushfire.

“These wind turbines, more often than not, are either in what we call the volcanic planes, or in barrier country,” he said.

“So unlike the pretty pictures where you see tracks made to the towers to enable them to be constructed in the mountains, the fires would be shooting out in country that is completely inaccessible.”

“Take, for example, the Mount Gellibrand turbine set up… on a 40C day, howling north wind, you’re talking literally half an hour, and the fire would be into the Otways, along the Great Ocean Road.

“It’s a huge potential for disaster.”

Victoria’s Country Fire Authority has raised concerns about the ability to put out wind farms once they catch alight, with aerial firebombing often not being an option due to high wind conditions.

And in June, Energy Safety Victoria launched an investigation after a wind turbine burst into flames in Portland, with firefighters being forced to let the blaze burn out.

Mr Riordan said it was “just insane” to expect volunteer CFA firefighters to deal with a wind turbine fire from the ground.

“There wouldn’t be enough trucks to keep hurling around the perimeter of a burning 200-metre tower that’s sending molten oil, molten fibreglass and shrapnel, for kilometres,” he said.

“And they also tell us, because they’re in the midst of a wind farm, the ability to bring in aerial support is much diminished.”

“The government solution is that we just let them burn out. Well, I can tell you now, my communities in western Victoria do not want to see a towering inferno burn for days in the middle of a 40-degree, dry, hot Australian summer.”

The shadow minister said there was a simple solution, which was to ensure all wind turbines were fitted with fire suppression units, and the failure to do this was a “complete abandonment of proper regulation” by the Victorian government.

“It’s more expensive, and it’s not standard practice, (but) imagine any other industry being able to build $1 billion investment that could cause harm and danger to its neighbours, not having the fire suppression and firefighting equipment as standard installation,” he said.

Mr Riordan said that in order to overt a disaster, the Labor government needed to “immediately audit the risks that are involved” and warn regional communities if they are near wind turbines and “fire suppression equipment doesn’t exist.”