ESS fire at solar facility in Chilgok, South Korea
May 2019Published 11 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- Gasa-myeon, Chilgok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
- Manufacturer
- LG Chem
- What
- fire in energy storage system at solar facility
- Cause
- Under investigation
- Outcome
- 610 million won property damage
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Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): LG Chem
What happened
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.
Contributing factors
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.
Lessons learned
- Restart of an ESS after partial battery replacement must use staged checks and monitoring, as the fire started during restart following replacement.
- A pattern of 22 ESS fires since 2017 requires fleet-wide root cause work rather than isolated fixes.
More lessons on detection and monitoring, electrical protection and isolation, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Exact cause of the fire
- ESS battery model and age
- Duration of downtime
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Other entries that name Chilgok
Published 2026-09-11. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
