ESS fire at solar facility in Chilgok, South Korea

A fire broke out at approximately 3:40 p.m. on 4 May 2019 at a solar power generation facility in Gasa-myeon, Chilgok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The local fire department estimated property damage at around 610 million won and suspected the fire originated in the site's energy storage system (ESS), which used batteries manufactured by LG Chem. The facility, which began operating in February 2017, had temporarily halted ESS operation following a government recommendation late the previous year that all ESS facilities at risk of fire spread be shut down. According to reports, some batteries within the ESS had been replaced the previous month and the system was being restarted when the fire occurred. This was reported as the 22nd ESS fire in South Korea since August 2017. A joint industry-government investigation team and the National Forensic Service conducted a site examination, with a full cause report expected the following month.

The fire occurred during restart of the ESS following partial battery replacement, after the system had been shut down in line with a government recommendation addressing a wider pattern of ESS fires across the country.

1. Restarting an energy storage system after partial battery replacement should include enhanced monitoring and staged commissioning checks rather than immediate return to full operation.
2. Recurring fire incidents across a fleet of similar installations warrant a systemic root-cause investigation rather than treating each event in isolation.
3. Regulatory shutdown recommendations should be paired with clear restart protocols and verification steps to reduce risk when systems are brought back online.

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