Finley Battery Energy Storage System

Testing Protocols
How frequently will suppression systems be tested, and how are these tests tracked and reported—including water usage and system integrity?

Water Supply & Storage
Where will the 228,000 L fire suppression supply be stored or sourced—is it mains, recycled wastewater, or well-based, and what’s the redundancy plan if the primary fails?

Water availability is critical during droughts, which are common in the Riverina.
Will you guarantee a drought-contingency plan ensuring water for emergencies without drawing from town or irrigation supply?

Battery facilities require regular water for cooling, testing, and washing, but this use is not disclosed.
How much water will the site use per month, and how will it be sourced without impacting nearby farms or aquifers?

There is no mention of independent third-party fire safety testing.
Will the developer conduct full-scale thermal runaway tests at similar capacity and publish the results?

Toxic gases like hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide can be emitted in battery fires.
Will the site include active gas monitoring and alarms for local residents and responders?

Lithium battery fires often require hundreds of thousands of litres of water, far more than standard tanks store.
Where will the site store its required 200,000–250,000 L of dedicated firewater, and how will it be maintained in drought conditions?

Re: Objection to the Proposed Finley Battery Energy Storage System
Location: Adjacent to the Mulwala Irrigation Channel, Finley, NSW

Dear Sir/Madam,
I write to formally object to the proposed Finley Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), located adjacent to the Mulwala Irrigation Channel in the Berrigan Shire. The Mulwala Canal is a significant irrigation systems, supplying water to agricultural enterprises across the Murray Irrigation District. Placing a large-scale battery energy facility immediately adjacent to this vital channel introduces unacceptable risk of chemical or electrolyte leakage into the water system, thermal events or battery fires leading to the release of toxic fumes or contaminated runoff, and damage or disruption to irrigation infrastructure during construction or in the event of equipment failure. This location poses a direct threat to agricultural water security, public health, and regional food production. Battery Energy Storage Systems have been associated with thermal runaway incidents and significant fire risk. In the event of a fire, access for fire crews near an open irrigation channel may be constrained. Runoff from suppression efforts could pollute the watercourse. There is a serious risk of toxic gases and contaminated water entering the irrigation network that supplies local crops, livestock, and potentially drinking water. These risks have been widely acknowledged in industry literature and recent fire events. The Mulwala Canal supports a range of aquatic life, birds, and nearby farmland ecosystems. Construction and operation of an industrial energy facility risks introducing sediment, pollutants, and noise during sensitive times such as the irrigation season. It may impact groundwater quality and aquatic habitats and has not yet demonstrated robust environmental safeguards for waterways of this significance. There is insufficient evidence to suggest that the proposed location is the most suitable or lowest-risk site available in the region. It does not appear to have adequately considered cumulative impacts on water, biodiversity, and neighbouring land uses, nor does it demonstrate alignment with best-practice siting guidelines for large battery systems in proximity to sensitive infrastructure and farmland. I respectfully request that the current proposal be halted until an independent environmental and water safety risk assessment is completed. A full cumulative impact assessment should be undertaken, including fire, flooding, chemical, and ecological risk. Alternative, lower-risk sites should be considered further from critical infrastructure. The local irrigation community, water agencies, and independent hydrologists must be formally involved in the assessment and consultation process. Given the scale of potential impact, the precautionary principle must be applied. Water resources, food security, and environmental health must not be compromised for energy storage convenience.

Finley’s flat, open farmland allows fire and smoke to spread rapidly in high winds.
Have you modelled smoke plume and heat radiation scenarios for worst-case battery fire conditions in local summer climate?

The risk of lithium-ion battery fires is well-documented globally, with Australia, South Korea, and the U.S. recording several catastrophic events.
How will Avenis prevent, contain, and extinguish a thermal runaway fire at the Finley BESS without releasing PFAS or toxic firewater into local farmland?

The risk of lithium-ion battery fires is well-documented globally, with Australia, South Korea, and the U.S. recording several catastrophic events.
How will Avenis prevent, contain, and extinguish a thermal runaway fire at the Finley BESS without releasing PFAS or toxic firewater into local farmland?

Finley’s farmland should feed communities—not host an industrial-scale 1.6 GWh BESS that locks up soil for decades
How will the developer guarantee this land is returned to production?

THIS IS AN UNETHICAL STORM OF NEGLECT AND ABUSE OF NATURE.
IT’S ALL PAIN & NO GAIN FOR AUSTRALIA AS ENERGY POVERTY RENEWABULLS ARE THE ASBESTOS OF THE FUTURE!

This plan shows “a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others, which is so great it appears to be a conscious violation of other people's rights to safety.”

Three things are clear about the diabolical NSW renewable infrastructure roadmap & Federal Directives:
👉🏻Many landscapes will never be the same;
👉🏻Electricity will become more expensive and less reliable;
👉🏻None of this will alter the climate and
👉🏻Australia will soon be under the Control of our most Hostile Enemy - the Chinese Communist Party

As Patricia Adams so aptly states in China's Energy Dream -
“Carbon dioxide reduction only makes sense for those China wishes to harm & supplant." 
https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2021/12/Adams-Chinas-Energy-Dream.pdf

It’s glaringly obvious that:
👉🏻’Renewables’ are a Trojan Horse for Socialism masquerading as Environmentalism”

👉🏻Weather dependent stuff – CANNOT deliver power on demand – but guarantees Economic Misery, Environmental Destruction and Community Disruption.

According to the most credible Electrical Engineering Experts this incapable, Toxic BESS plan & NSW RenewaBull Infrastructure Roadmap - orchestrated by the Climate Change Authority Chair - who was previously the Coalition’s NSW Energy Minister & Treasurer - can only be described as SHAMBOLIC POLICY MAKING, DANGEROUS TO GRID OPERATION & TOTALLY MAD!

Even worse, the heart of this disaster is in the SW emanating from the INSIDIOUS DINAWAN SUBSTATION …. with ex Cheung Kong Infrastructure’s Spark Infrastructure & TransGrid Running dodgy ENERGYCO & the CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY CHAIR’s previous, dodgy Energy Policy Director has somehow snagged a spot on the NEM ‘EXPERT’ PANEL & his Delusional Executive Director Energy at NSW Treasury in 2023 is now acting CEO of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC)- SETTING AUSTRALIA’S ELECTRICITY RULES!!

THIS IS AN INCESTUOUS, FAKE GREEN SWAMP - AGAINST AUSTRALIA’s BEST INTERESTS - WITH VESTED INTEREST TENTACLES ALL BENEFITING THE GREEDY FAKE GREEN GRAVY TRAIN, GLOBAL ELITE & CHINA!

This plan DEFIES:-
*Every aspect of the NATIONAL ELECTRICITY LAW OBJECTIVE.
‘The objective of the National Electricity Law is to promote efficient investment in, & efficient operation and use of, electricity services for the long term interests of consumers with respect to:-
(a) price, quality, safety, reliability and security of supply of electricity; 
and
(b) the reliability, safety and security of the national electricity system; 
and 
(c) the achievement of targets set by a participating jurisdiction 
(i) for reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions; or 
(ii)that are likely to contribute to reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions.’
 
‘AEMO, AER, AEMC, Energy Ministers, Networks, Generators & everyone in 'authority', place primacy on emissions target rather than the other requirements of the NEL. 
The emissions requirement was only added to the NEL in Sep 2023, and the NSW Emissions Reduction Act 2023 was only passed in Nov 23 (other states were similarly tardy to legislate any targets),  - so on what basis did any Gov act prior to that to impose all this on us?   Yet they all did, and still emphasise emissions over other objectives.   
NEL is made in the SA Parliament, and in the 2nd reading, the Minister there also reiterated that ALL OBJECTIVES ARE EQUAL.’

*Australian Drinking Water Guidelines  The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has drafted an update of the PFAS Fact Sheet within the Guidelines that includes revised and newly established health-based guideline values. The draft PFAS fact sheet is supported by a NHMRC Statement on PFAS in drinking water, which provides a summary of the findings that informed the update.  
The PFAS reviewed as part of the recent update include perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS); perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS); perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid and its ammonium salt (GenX chemicals). 
Further information on the NHMRC Review of PFAS in Australian drinking water (https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/environmental-health/water/PFAS-review) is available on the NHMRC website.

An IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON THE WHOLE RENEWABLE/INTERCONNECTOR NIGHTMARE IS ESSENTIAL.
A COMPREHENSIVE INDEPENDENT AUDIT into all supply chains, personnel, and third-party advisors involved—with a specific focus on identifying anyone subject to the CCP’s National Intelligence Law;

A ROYAL COMMISSION into the ideological capture, governance failures, and systemic conflicts of interest across AEMO, AER, AEMC, and other so-called independent energy bodies is essential.

A RETURN TO AN ENERGY POLICY BASED ON NATIONAL INTERESTS—affordable, safe, secure, sovereign energy rooted in our existing coal-based assets, not the fantasy of renewables.
Australia cannot afford another day of sabotage disguised as ‘Net Zero,’ ‘sustainability,’ ‘emissions reduction,’ ESG Agenda!

**World Health Organization now lists two PFAS as carcinogens or possible carcinogens: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as a Group 1 carcinogen and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as a Group 2B carcinogen.

**A range of PFAS is also subject to the Stockholm Convention for the protection of human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (ie, PFOS, PFHxS, PFOA and potentially all long chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids). 

**COMMONWEALTH PFAS BAN
Some types have been found to be toxic to human health and the environment. In its most definitive regulatory action taken to date, the Commonwealth has effectively banned the import, use and manufacture of some of the more prominent types of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS) 
from 1 July 2025.
(21 Feb 2024)

*Finley BESS defies the Paris Agreement.
Taking over farmland to build facilities to produce intermittent energy is a violation of Article 2, Section 1(b) of the Paris Agreement (2015).
Article 2 1(b) of the 2015 Paris Agreement states:
“This Agreement... aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by:
“(b) Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development,  IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT THREATEN FOOD PRODUCTION”; See: https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf .

*RenewaBULLs DO NOT CO-EXIST WITH FOOD PRODUCTION AS THEY ARE THE ASBESTOS OF THE FUTURE - Defying:-
Livestock Production Assurance Program
The particular question is 2.8 of the "Food Safety on Your Property" section. 

*”Do livestock have access to leaking electrical transformers, capacitors, hydraulic equipment, solar panels, wind turbines, coal seam gas structures or coal mine wastes?"*

- Yes
- No
- I am now aware and making plans to restrict access

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2147446775628698/posts/2222816628091712/ https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2222816628091712&id=2147446775628698

**’Forever chemicals’ used in Lithium Ion Batteries Threaten Environment, Research Finds | Lithium-ion batteries | The Guardian 14/7/24
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/jul/14/forever-chemicals-lithium-ion-batteries-environment

**Safety of Grid Scale Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems
“The scale of Li-ion BESS energy storage envisioned at “mega scale” energy farms is unprecedented and requires urgent review. The explosion potential and the lack of engineering standards to prevent thermal runaway may put control of “battery fires” beyond the knowledge, experience and capabilities of local Fire and Rescue Services. 
BESS present special hazards to fire-fighters….”
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352158070_Safety_of_Grid_Scale_Lithium-ion_Battery_Energy_Storage_Systems

**Grid Scale Batteries & Fire Risk
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/656f411497ae14084ad8d03a/t/66fd2383b56dbc6906390297/1727865736681/Fannon-Batteries.pdf

**Disaster at Moss Landing: The Risk of Battery Storage - YouTube - 16/1/25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuTaZFQA18E

**https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/02/20/massive-green-battery-plant-catches-on-fire-again-weeks-after-major-toxic-blaze/

**https://localnewsmatters.org/2025/02/13/environmental-tests-reveal-elevated-levels-of-toxic-metals-since-moss-landing-battery-fire/

**https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/environmental-tests-reveal-battery-metals-around-20163514.php

**https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/elevated-levels-heavy-metals-elkhorn-slough-lithium-battery-facility-fire/

**Battery recycling plant explodes - twice. (What it means for you.) | Auto Expert John Cadogan - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-nzOJ01Fkc

**https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=9402
“There is a general lack of guidance and provisions in building codes, standards, and legislation in relation to safety to address the potential risks from these emerging technologies. Part of the problem is that we do not yet know enough about their probability of failure, their mechanisms of failure and potential consequences of failure.”

**”PFOS and PFOS-related chemicals are still being produced for regulated uses (primarily in China)”
https://greensciencepolicy.org/our-work/building-materials/pfas-in-building-materials/

** “PFOS Chemicals are just as bad for wildlife as they are for humans. 
Tests have found that even small levels of contamination can lead to compromised immune systems and brain asymmetry.”
https://www.completehomefiltration.com.au/difference-between-pfas-and-pfos/)

Nobody in their right mind would plan or approve this extremely Toxic, Fire Hazard right near the essential Mulwala Canal - as well as two other BESS & a land/water poisoning Solar ‘DUMP’ nearby - unless they intended to cause extensive harm to rural Australia & the Public!

No Thanks!!
Everyone knows Finley BESS is Toxic Rubbish that would be life threatening from thermal runaway!
Australia has FAR SUPERIOR, RELIABLE AFFORDABLE COAL INSTEAD - THAT’s GREAT FOR AUSTRALIA!

We’re all sick to death of the unethical, Fake Green Ruinable Nightmare that’s all powered by slave labour supply chains just like predatory TransGrid!

Energy Poverty Junk like this Finley BESS is costing us a fortune, is wrecking our economy, poisoning our healthy uncontaminated land & destroying our national security.

I object to this anti-Australian, Environmentally Destructive, Insecure & Life Threatening Disaster!

This isn’t about energy — it’s about control. Weakening Australia’s grid while empowering the Chinese Communist Party is not just foolish — it’s national sabotage.

This plan has No Cost-Benefit Analysis, No Accountability!
Billions are being funnelled into ‘renewable’ JUNK with no engineering facts, no factual grid modeling, no full-cycle environmental assessment, and zero consequences for failure.