Battery fire at KEPCO Gyeongsan Substation energy storage site

On the evening of 2 May 2018, a fire broke out at the KEPCO Gyeongsan Substation, operated by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), in Jinryang-eup, Gyeongsan-si, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The fire involved a lithium ion battery energy storage system used for frequency regulation, reported to be about 1.8 years old at the time. More than 100 charging facilities and batteries were burned. Firefighters brought the blaze under control within two and a half hours. No injuries or fatalities were reported. The fire department made an initial damage estimate, and police opened an investigation into the cause. No further details on the root cause were available at the time of reporting.

Not reported in the source. Police investigation into the cause was ongoing at the time of the article.

1. Battery energy storage systems used for grid services such as frequency regulation should be designed and monitored for early detection of thermal events.
2. Rapid fire service response can limit escalation, but outdoor BESS installations should include measures to contain fire spread across battery racks and adjacent equipment.
3. Root cause investigations following BESS fires should be published where possible to allow the wider industry to learn from failure modes.

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