Inverter fire during commissioning at Mannum Solar Farm Stage 2, South Australia

In January 2024, a fire occurred at Mannum Solar Farm Stage 2, near Mannum, South Australia, operated by Epic Energy, while the project was undergoing commissioning following completion of construction. An inverter housed within a shipping container ignited. A contractor on site sustained burn injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment. The local fire service attended with around ten firefighters and kept the fire contained to the affected container, preventing spread to the adjacent solar panel arrays. Damage was reported at approximately A$250,000. The state work safety regulator and police attended the site for a workplace safety investigation. Repair work and the broader commissioning programme continued. The facility was not yet exporting power to the grid at the time of the incident.

Public reporting and statements attributed to Epic Energy and the fire service described the immediate event as an inverter ignition within a shipping container. Causation analysis was reported as being carried out by the principal contractor in coordination with the state work safety regulator. No cause had been published in the sources reviewed, and no conclusion should be drawn here about the technical origin of the ignition or about the activities being undertaken at the time.

1. Commissioning-phase work on or near energised power electronics carries elevated personal injury risk. Operators and contractors should review live-working procedures before commissioning begins, including the boundaries of permitted activities, approach distances and the personal protective equipment required for large central inverters.
2. Inverter container architectures concentrate electrical energy and combustible materials in a confined space. Detection and suppression provisions inside the container should be specified against the consequences of an internal fire, not the likelihood alone.
3. Physical separation between the inverter container and adjacent arrays and containers limited the spread in this case. Separation distances set at the design stage should be recorded and protected against later layout changes.
4. Commissioning activities are typically governed by the principal contractor's safety arrangements. Asset owners should confirm in advance that they have sight of the commissioning plan, hazard assessments and incident reporting throughout the commissioning window.
5. Injuries during commissioning are reportable to the work safety regulator in most jurisdictions. Reporting routes, site preservation and evidence handling should be agreed with the principal contractor before energisation.
6. Resumption of commissioning after an equipment fire needs both physical reinstatement and a procedural review. Commissioning programmes should carry contingency for this rather than assuming an immediate restart.

pv-magazine.com/2024/01/15/worker-injured-in-fire-at-south-australian-so...