Mallacoota Area Grid Storage (MAGS)

Community update: 14 July 2025

The Mallacoota Area Grid Storage (MAGS) was back in service after we installed some new parts needed to repair the fault. It's now supporting the local power network, helping keep the community connected.

Community update: 20 May 2025

MAGS was temporarily out of service due to technical issues. We were waiting on key parts to arrive before we could start repairs.

How MAGS supports Mallacoota

Since it was installed, MAGS has helped power the township during outages. In April alone, MAGS supported the network through five short outages and one sustained outage—running for 13 hours and delivering a significant reliability benefit to the community.

Short outages (also known as transient outages) last less than three minutes, while sustained outages last longer than three minutes and have a greater impact on customers.

Since September 2024, MAGS has provided over 73 hours of back up power during outages. See the table below for a month-by-month breakdown.

Community update: 9 - 10 February 2025

We did critical bushfire mitigation works on powerlines in Mallacoota, Genoa and Gipsy Point that week. To do this work safely, we needed to turn the power off from 8am-4:30pm on:

• Sunday 9 February – this impacted all customers in Mallacoota, Genoa and Gipsy Point
• Monday 10 February – this impacted around 20 customers in Mallacoota.  

We directly communicated with customers about their outage in advance.

Due to current technical issues, MAGS didn't supply back-up power during the outage. We did some troubleshooting tests on MAGS, and depending on the results of these tests, we aimed to carry out some repairs during the outage window.

Here were some tips to prepare for this outage:

• Life support customers, please be ready to activate your emergency plan on these days. Call 1800 818 832 anytime.
• Charge your battery packs so they're ready to power your mobile phones.
• If you have an electric water pump, stock up on bottled water.
• If you have an electric fence or gate, make sure you can manually open and close it during the outage.
• See more tips at www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages

Community update: 13 November 2023

We carried out essential maintenance works from Monday 13 November to Sunday 26 November.

There were two short outages on Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd afternoon. There was also a possibility of short interruptions on other days.

Testing schedule:

Community update: 4 September 2023

We replaced power poles near Cann River on Thursday 7th September as part of our bushfire mitigation works. This work happened between 8:30am and 4pm.

The forecast was partly cloudy, why would this affect MAGS?

If the sun is shining, rooftop solar systems would have been generating more electricity than usual. If there was an excess of solar generation which is not used for homes or businesses, this electricity gets fed back into the grid.
As MAGS is already supplying power to the town using a generator, there may be a large increase in power flow across the network, potentially causing functional issues.

How did we managed this?

While the weather outlook looked optimal, we monitored MAGS throughout the day and our teams were on standby both onsite and remotely to adjust the power supply settings on the day if required.

MAGS also has a control system which automatically adjusts the level of power flow depending on what’s currently in the grid. However, this is most effective when the power is not disconnected for extended periods of time.

If MAGS is impacted by excess solar generation, this may result in short periods of power interruptions rather than an extended outage.

What improvements to MAGS were completed so far?

We’ve delivered on our promise to station a registered electrical contractor (REC) in Mallacoota, who will address issues as quickly as possible and confirm our tests are completed with minimal impacts to the community.

In the last few months, we upgraded the generator’s control system and installed new automatic switches to provide greater network flexibility if an outage occurs.

Our crews continued powerline patrols to identify bark and other tree debris that may cause supply interruptions

Community update: 28 July 2023

We upgraded MAGS and ran functional tests as part of our program of works to increase the reliability and stability of the battery system during a network outage. There were works and testing happening from Monday 7 August until Wednesday 16 August.

What happened?

• Monday 7 – Wednesday 9 August
  To prepare for testing, our crews installed new concrete power poles and connected underground cables to existing power poles.

There were further works which required short interruptions to power supply during the following times:

• Thursday 10 August
  A high-voltage generator kept the power flowing for the town during works on this day, however a short, 30-minute outage occurred between 5:00pm and 5:30pm. This was so we could safely disconnect the town from the generator and reconnect it to the grid.


• Wednesday 16 August
  A series of short, intermittent outages between 12pm and 6pm occurred as we tested MAGS and confirmed the new upgrades were performing as expected. Our generator remained onsite was available to supply back-up power in the unlikely event of a prolonged power outage during the testing period.


• Additional outage (date to be confirmed)
  A small number of customers may have experienced an additional short outage. This was due to routine maintenance on a transformer in the area and separate to the MAGS program of works.

For tips and advice on how to prepare for an outage, see Be Power Prepared.

Why these works were important

These works allowed us to install a new automatic switch, which was designed to increase our ability to control MAGS remotely from our Control Centre. This replaced an existing ‘manual switch’ and improved the amount of time it takes to get your power back on if there’s an unexpected outage.

How we provided updates

We send an SMS to Mallacoota residents about these planned outages

Community update: 31 May 2023

Improving and increasing the reliability and stability of MAGS remained a priority for us as we explored a number of short and long-term solutions to support Mallacoota during a network outage.

We implemented an interim process, where if network outage occurs and MAGS didn't start automatically, our control room was alerted and was able to remotely start MAGS. This took up to 30 minutes for this to happen.

In the short term, we also:
•    stationed a registered electrical contractor (REC) in Mallacoota to address any issues as they arise
•    upgraded the generator’s control system
•    increased powerline patrols to identify bark and other tree debris that may have caused supply interruptions
•    installed automatic switches to provide greater network flexibility if an outage had occured.

We kept you updated when we finalised our long-term solutions to improve the reliability of MAGS during outages.

Community update: 3 May 2023

Our crews were working to fix an outage that impacted the back-up battery system.
 

Community update: 27 April 2023

AusNet customers received an SMS from us about a possible upcoming power interruption on 11 May 2023, between 3pm and 6pm.

This was due to testing of the Mallacoota Area Grid Storage (MAGS) system. Our crews were running full functional tests, which may have caused a series of short, intermittent outages during this time

These works were required to check the MAGS system’s performance after the technical issues and subsequent repair and upgrade works were carried out. We also waited on some parts from the battery manufacturer Samsung in South Korea, before the issues are fully resolved.

Community update: 20 April 2023

Since 2021, the MAGS battery has been supporting the delivery of backup power to the town of Mallacoota.

While this system has reduced the frequency of power interruptions in the area, managing grid stability over one of the longest lines through complex terrain in Victoria remains a challenge.

Over the Easter long weekend, tree debris interfered with powerlines and resulted in outages from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. MAGS did not supply backup power during this time due to technical issues we discovered while investigating the outages.

Our crews were able to address the technical issues, which meant the system was able to provide backup power generation in case of an outage. Our crews were onsite and remained in Mallacoota until Tuesday afternoon to support power supply in the unlikely case of an outage this weekend.

We were conscious of the unique power supply considerations in Mallacoota. We also knew that the community would like more information on the status and ongoing performance of MAGS.

We directly communicated with Mallacoota residents with updates.

• To get SMS updates from us, please make sure your electricity retailer has your current mobile number. They'll pass it onto us and we'll start sending you updates.
• You can follow us on Facebook for updates. 
• If you're a life support customer, please be ready to activate your emergency plan during the testing period. Life support customers can call our priority line anytime on 1800 818 832.