Energy Incident Register
Register / Battery storage / EIR-0637
← Back to the list
Battery storageSouth KoreaEIR-0637

Battery container fire at KEPCO frequency regulation ESS in Yongin, South Korea

Oct 2018Published 10 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantThermal / fire24 MW
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersMedium confidence
out of service for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hiddenThe maker is named in 8 other entries (being named is not a finding of fault)
Where
Sinyongin substation energy storage system, South Korea
Operator
KEPCO
What
Fire in one of twelve battery containers
Response
24 firefighter units brought it under control
Manufacturer
Samsung SDI

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Samsung SDI

What happened

A fire broke out in one of twelve battery containers at the Sinyongin substation energy storage system, operated by state utility KEPCO for frequency regulation. The facility, installed in July 2015, comprised 12 containers totalling 24MW using lithium-ion batteries supplied by Samsung SDI. The fire started around 15:20 local time and firefighters deployed 24 units of equipment to bring it under control. Authorities noted the fire was not linked to bird or animal intrusion into the installation.

This was the second fire at a KEPCO frequency regulation ESS facility that year, following an earlier fire at the Gyeongsan substation in May 2018. It formed part of a wider series of ESS fires reported across South Korea during 2018, prompting national scrutiny of ESS safety.

Contributing factors

The specific technical cause of the fire was not stated in the source. The facility was around three years old at the time of the incident and used battery systems manufactured by Samsung SDI. Authorities had already conducted emergency inspections of ESS sites nationwide following the earlier Gyeongsan substation fire, but this did not prevent a further incident.

Lessons learned

  1. A battery container fire at an ESS site may require many fire units to control, so operators should check that local response plans match the scale of lithium-ion container fires.
  2. An earlier fire at another KEPCO frequency regulation ESS did not prevent recurrence, so operators should carry out full fleet diagnostics after any single event.
  3. Ruling out animal intrusion does not identify battery faults, so operators should still run complete system diagnostics on similar Samsung SDI units.

More lessons on investigation and fleet-wide checks, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Specific technical cause of the fire
  • Battery container model and exact age
  • Duration of downtime and repair cost

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

e2news.com

Published 2026-09-10. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

See the register's stories first in Google: add it as a preferred source.

Chart to reuse with this story: Battery storage incidents in South Korea, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

Battery storage incidents in South Korea: 35 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

Battery storage fires: the counts, the latest entries and a free alert for the next one. Also: battery storage container fires.

Browse the full register or submit an incident.