Battery compartment fire during commissioning at Hainan Tianneng Yingge Haiyanchang storage station

At around 18:30 on 20 October 2022, a fire broke out in one of ten battery compartments (No. 6) at the 25MW/50MWh energy storage system forming part of the Hainan Tianneng Yingge Haiyanchang 100MW photovoltaic project energy storage power station in Yinggehai, Hainan, China. The local fire department was notified and firefighters arrived at the site by 18:50. There were no casualties. The energy storage system was still in the commissioning stage, had not been connected to the grid or handed over from the EPC contractor, PowerChina Hainan Electric Power Design, to the operator, Hainan Tianneng Electric Power, so the incident did not affect grid operation. Technical staff advised that the fire could not be safely extinguished with water at the scene. Because the burning compartment did not threaten surrounding equipment, the decision was taken to let the fire burn itself out before further disposal action.

The battery system was in the commissioning phase and had not yet been formally handed over to the operator, Hainan Tianneng Electric Power. Reports noted that the site had recently conducted photovoltaic fire emergency drills but appeared to lack specific emergency drills and plans for energy storage battery fires.

1. Energy storage assets require fire emergency drills and response plans specific to battery chemistry, separate from generic photovoltaic fire drills.
2. Fires can occur during the commissioning phase before a battery energy storage system is handed over or connected to the grid, so commissioning protocols should include dedicated fire monitoring and response arrangements.
3. Water may not be an effective or safe suppression method for lithium iron phosphate battery fires; operators and local fire services should agree in advance on appropriate tactics, including controlled burn-out where isolation from other equipment can be assured.

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