Battery storage fire at Daesung Industrial Gas plant in Ulsan, South Korea
EIR-0668Provisional entry. This entry is based on a headline and an EPRI database summary citing a South Korean government source; the original article text could not be verified, so cause, injuries and damage extent are not yet confirmed. No further update is scheduled; the entry stays provisional until new information is published.
A fire broke out at the battery energy storage system (BESS) located at Daesung Industrial Gas's plant in Seongam-dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan, South Korea, on 21 January 2019. The fire started on the second floor of the three-storey ESS building and spread upward to the third floor. Large flames were reported before firefighters brought the blaze under control, with the fire fully extinguished around 12:30pm, roughly three hours after it broke out. The system was a lithium-ion battery installation used for demand charge management, housed indoors, and had been in operation for approximately seven months prior to the incident. No further details on injuries, cause or damage were available in the source material.
Not reported in the available source.
- Indoor multi-storey ESS installations require fire containment and compartmentalisation to prevent vertical fire spread between floors.
- Systems in their first year of operation may be at elevated risk and warrant close monitoring during commissioning and early operation.
- Rapid fire service response and clear evacuation protocols are critical for multi-storey battery installations to limit fire duration and spread.
Published 2026-09-11. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.