Nine cylinders of nitrogen went into the transformer over 90 minutes
A transformer subcontractor has been convicted and fined $120,000 over nitrogen risks at a NSW solar farm.
The Industrial Court of New South Wales handed down its sentence on October 2, 2026, in SafeWork NSW v Megavolt Australia Pty Ltd, after the company pleaded guilty to a workplace safety offence carrying a maximum penalty of more than $665,000.
Megavolt Australia Pty Ltd specialised in transformer installation and maintenance for medium and high voltage industries. In February 2023, Siemens Energy engaged it to install two large transformers at a solar farm near Wuuluman in central-western NSW.
The job went to plan until July 11, 2023, when one of the transformers failed to hold a vacuum. Megavolt started investigating a possible leak - but did not tell Siemens Energy.
The next morning, two pairs of workers split across the two transformers. The company's sole director and a trade assistant tackled the leak problem on Transformer No 1. Their fix was to switch off the vacuum pump and pump nitrogen into the system to manage tank pressure and stop moisture getting in while they searched for the leak.
Nine cylinders of compressed nitrogen went in over an hour and a half.
That detail sat at the heart of the case. Megavolt had not done a risk assessment for using nitrogen at the site. It had no safe work method statement covering leak detection. It had not given the safety data sheet for nitrogen to its...
[OSEN=Choi Lee-jung Reporter] As past remarks by singer Yang Hong-won expressing his dislike of infidelity resurface, reactions continue to grow that the recent 'motel infidelity allegations' agai...