Fire damages battery storage system at solar plant in Samcheok

In December 2018, a fire broke out during the evening at a battery energy storage system integrated with a solar generation facility in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, South Korea. The fire destroyed a large number of lithium-ion battery units and damaged part of the building housing the system, resulting in substantial property loss. No injuries were reported in the source. Fire services noted that lithium-ion battery fires of this type are difficult to extinguish, as contact with water can cause further heating and explosion risk. The exact cause could not be determined, as the batteries were consumed so completely that investigators were unable to identify a point of origin. The facility had reportedly undergone a safety inspection earlier the same month under a national programme addressing battery storage fire risk. The incident occurred during a period of rapid growth in storage installations paired with renewable generation in the country.

According to the source report, water damage to the batteries had been identified during a safety inspection before the fire, and the battery supplier, LG Chem, twice requested that the system be taken out of service. The report states that the system remained in service and that the batteries were returned to operating condition before the fire. The register has not independently verified these accounts and no formal cause was established.

1. Define in advance, in contract and in site procedures, that a supplier or manufacturer notification of water ingress or component damage triggers an automatic hold on operation until the affected units are assessed, so the decision does not rest on a commercial judgement at the time.
2. Ensure safety inspection regimes are linked to a clear follow-up and verification step, as correctly identifying a hazard does not by itself remove it.
3. Preserve and review battery management system, environmental and fire alarm data off site, since lithium-ion fires can destroy the physical evidence needed for root cause analysis.
4. Where storage is co-located with generation, assess building fire separation and the consequences of losing the shared structure, not only the battery enclosure.
5. Agree tactics with the local fire service in advance, including defensive firefighting, water use limits and exclusion zones for lithium-ion battery fires.

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