Safety is a consideration when it comes to any energy asset and lithium-ion batteries are no exception. Fires are rare, but do happen, particularly when you consider how much juice lithium storage systems can pack into a fairly small space. In this panel from the Energy Storage Summit 2021, experts including firefighter Charlie Pugsley of London Fire Brigade talk about the strategies stakeholders should be using today and in the future to ensure a safe industry for all.

The energy storage industry should be well prepared to deal with failure in lithium-ion battery systems so that thermal runaway in a single battery cell never becomes a fire or explosion.

Tom Bensen, Nick Warner, Ryan Franks and Michael Bowes from energy storage and fire safety expert group Energy Safety Response Group (formerly Energy Storage Response Group) discuss some of the most important aspects of creating a safe battery storage industry.

UL has created a database on its website that allows energy storage system manufacturers to list the results of their UL 9540A thermal runaway fire propagation tests.

An April 2019 fire and subsequent explosion which caused injuries to firefighters and destruction of a grid-scale battery storage system in Arizona likely started with an internal cell defect that caused the “preventable” incident, analysis has found.

Battery energy storage deployed at Cleve Hill, the largest solar farm planned in the UK to date, will be installed and operated in line with a safety plan agreed with local fire services and the national Health and Safety Executive.

The second draft of the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) energy storage system guidance on fire hazards and safe installation best practices for stakeholders has been published.