Lithium-ion battery fire in California energy storage facility

[Caribbeans]

Lithium-ion battery fire in California energy storage facility

PV-magazine-usa.com | SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 | ANNE FISCHER

A fire erupted on Monday inside a solar battery storage container at the Valley Center Energy Storage Facility in northern San Diego County, California.

The fire occurred when a battery storage unit caught fire, according to Terra-Gen, owner of the energy storage facility.



The Valley Center Energy Storage Facility is a stand-alone 139 MW energy storage project located on a 7-acre property within a commercial-industrial zone. Homes and businesses within a quarter mile of the site were evacuated and a shelter-in-place order was in effect for anyone a half mile from the site. Terra-Gen issued a statement saying that the facility’s design systems are keeping the incident contained.

The energy storage facility houses lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) in racks within enclosures. Electricity is stored and discharged from the batteries to the inverter transformer located next to them, which converts the energy from DC to AC. The energy is delivered to the SDG&E Valley Center substation located one-third of a mile away. Terra-Gen contracted with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to provide power under a 15-year Resource Adequacy (RA) contract for up to 14,000 homes for four hours on a single charge..

Lithium NMC batteries have been known to cause fires, explosions, arc flashes, electric shocks from the energy storage systems can expose workers and area residents to toxic chemicals. The McMicken fire is an often cited incident that occurred in 2019 in Arizona when an Arizona Public Service (APS) battery failure and corresponding explosion left eight firefighters and one police officer hospitalized. Insights from that fire are reflected in the 2023 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 855 code revision. American Clean Power recently published a guide for first responders on lithium-ion battery energy storage system emergencies that takes the new code into account...more
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/09/19/lithium-ion-battery-fire-in-california-energy-storage-facility/

Lots of people think used Lithium EV batteries will be great to hook up to their house - to store a few kWh for an outage. Might want to get these inspected, and notify your home insurance company.

2 years ago in Australia:


A fire that spread across two Tesla lithium-ion battery packs at Neoen’s 300MW/450MWh energy storage system (ESS) in Australia took three days to extinguish.
https://www.bestmag.co.uk/teslas-lithium-ion-megapack-causes-three-day-fire-during-test-australian-300mw-ess/


4 years ago in Arizona

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Eos Puts Its Zinc-Air Grid Batteries to the Test With ConEd

Eos Puts Its Zinc-Air Grid Batteries to the Test With ConEd

A grid battery at $160 per kilowatt-hour? Startup Eos Energy Storage lands a utility partner to test it out.
JEFF ST. JOHN MAY 02, 2013

Eos Energy Storage, the startup that says its zinc-air battery chemistry can provide grid-scale energy storage at unprecedentedly low costs, has just landed its first utility pilot partner to test it out.

That’s Consolidated Edison, which announced Wednesday that it’s using a $250,000 NYSERDA state grant to deploy one of Eos’ batteries somewhere on New York City’s grid. From there, the partners intend to test the battery’s ability to do things like assist congested power corridors during grid peaks, or balance out grid voltage fluctuations, to “reduce customer costs, defer utility infrastructure upgrades and enhance power quality and reliability,” according to Wednesday’s release.

It’s the first public display of the New York-based startup’s potentially disruptive energy storage technology, but it won’t be the last. Eos has five other unnamed partners now testing smaller-scale versions of its battery, and expects to announce some more big utility partners this summer, Philippe Bouchard, business development manager at Eos, said in a Wednesday interview.

All of these early pilot tests, in their turn, are aimed at supporting the eventual commercial launch of a 1-megawatt, 6-megawatt-hour battery called the Eos Aurora. Think of it as a cargo-container-sized box, filled with a complex of air and aqueous electrolyte solution battery “cells,” stacked 50 cells high per module, that absorb and discharge electricity via the interaction of air and Eos’ proprietary zinc hybrid cathode technology.

…

[Think. Again.]

2. Thank goodness...

...all of the other energy fuels are not combustable.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Well, batteries are not fuel of course...

However, yes, other storage facilities have been known to catch fire occasionally.

Marathon Petroleum refinery fire in Louisiana under control, evacuation order lifted

By Raja Razek and Amy Simonson, CNN
Updated 4:14 AM EDT, Sat August 26, 2023



CNN — Fire crews have contained a large fire at a refinery storage tank in Garyville, Louisiana, about 40 miles west of New Orleans, authorities said.

A mandatory evacuation order put in place Friday morning within a two-mile radius around the facility was lifted in the afternoon by St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard, according to a statement from the parish.

“The fire is currently under control and has remained within the common containment-dike area of two tanks on the refinery’s property,” the statement said. “Both tanks have sustained damage.”

The statement added an investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the incident.

…

[Think. Again.]

4. Yeah...

...I guess I should have said energy holding thingies instead.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. FWIW: Hydrogen is also quite flammable

As more hydrogen is stored & transported, you can expect to see more such incidents.

[Think. Again.]

6. Yeah...

...that's why I said..

"...all of the other energy fuels ..."