Battery chain fire and explosion at data centre backup power system during maintenance
EIR-0147Provisional entry. Confirmed: a battery chain in an indoor data centre backup power system caught fire and produced a visible explosion during planned maintenance, with no injuries or wider service impact reported. Not yet confirmed: the precise technical cause of the battery failure, as no official investigation report has been published and reporting relies on a single news account and an operator statement. Next update: 9 September 2026.
During planned annual maintenance at a commercial data centre, a fire occurred in one of the lithium-ion battery chains supplying an uninterruptible power inverter (one of five parallel chains). The event produced a visible explosion, captured on video by site staff. Facility personnel isolated the two affected battery chains and activated the room's smoke extraction system. According to a statement from the site operator, all other inverters and battery chains continued in normal operation with no wider impact on the facility. No injuries were reported and the incident did not affect data centre services. The exact technical cause of the battery failure was not detailed in available reporting.
The incident occurred during planned annual maintenance activity on one battery/inverter chain, though the specific technical trigger for the battery fire was not reported.
- Segregating battery banks into independently isolatable chains can limit the impact of a single battery failure on overall system availability.
- Facilities housing lithium-ion battery backup systems should have smoke extraction and containment measures ready to activate immediately during maintenance windows, when battery systems may be more vulnerable.
- Video or sensor monitoring during maintenance can help operators quickly identify and isolate failing battery strings before escalation.
Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.