Battery storage fire destroys solar site ESS in Yeongju, South Korea
Nov 2018Published 11 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
- Where
- solar power facility in Jangsu-myeon, Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
- What
- fire in 33 square metre building housing ESS on standby
- Injuries
- None reported
- Response
- fire extinguished within about an hour
- Cause
- Under investigation
Get the next one by email
Free alerts on battery storage incidents in South Korea, and an email when EIR-0671 is updated. No account needed; unsubscribe in one click.
Confirm your email and every battery storage incident on the register arrives at once as a spreadsheet (CSV), free.
Get a free sample brief Three complete verified records and the incidents-per-GW table, by email within a minute.
We will also email you about the register's paid records and plans, at most once a week and three times in all. You can stop these at any time. By signing up you agree to the privacy policy.
What happened
At around 3:55pm on 12 November 2018, a fire of unknown cause broke out at a solar power facility in Jangsu-myeon, Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The fire occurred in a 33 square metre sandwich panel building housing an energy storage system (ESS) that was on standby after charging. All 374 lithium-ion batteries installed in the ESS were burned. The fire was extinguished within about an hour. The fire department estimated property damage at approximately 702.25 million won. The solar facility, rated at 1,500 kW, had received its generation licence in July of the previous year. No injuries were reported in connection with this incident.
Contributing factors
The exact cause of the fire was not determined at the time of reporting. Local reporting noted that solar and ESS facilities in the region lacked specific firefighting standards, and that lithium-ion battery fires can reach temperatures that standard gas-based fire suppression systems cannot cool.
Lessons learned
- Gas-based suppression in lithium-ion ESS may fail to cool thermal events, so operators should fit systems rated for battery fires.
- ESS in solar sites without tailored standards need updated detection before standby fires spread to all cells.
More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, detection and monitoring, from every incident on the register.
Not yet known
- Exact cause of the fire
- Battery model and age
- Downtime of the 1,500 kW solar facility
This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.
Source
Published 2026-09-11. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
