Battery storage at solar park near Schnaittenbach, Germany, burns out

What happened

A battery storage unit at a solar park near Schnaittenbach in the Amberg-Sulzbach district of Bavaria, Germany, caught fire and was largely burned out. The fire produced heavy smoke. According to the report, nobody was injured and the damage is estimated at around 500,000 euros. About 60 firefighters were deployed for several hours, supported by the district fire inspectorate, the BRK emergency service, the rescue service leader and police from Amberg. Investigators examined the site on the afternoon the report was published. The cause had not been established at the time of reporting, but police considered third-party involvement highly unlikely.

Contributing factors

Not reported. The cause of the fire was still unclear at the time of reporting.

Lessons learned

1. Battery storage fires at hybrid solar sites can require firefighting over several hours, so operators should agree access routes, water supply and smoke management plans with the local fire service in advance.
2. Operators should keep up-to-date site documentation and emergency contact details available for responding agencies.
3. Operators and investigators should publish confirmed root causes once investigations conclude, so that other operators can address the same failure modes.

More lessons on fire suppression and firefighting, emergency response and public communication, investigation and fleet-wide checks, from every incident on the register.

Source

otv.de