How can EPRI help protect battery energy storage systems?

EPRI is currently working on a range of resources to help improve the safety of battery energy storage systems called the Project Lifecycle Safety Toolkit. It will include everything from data sets to white papers and guidebooks that provide practical steps to mitigate the risk of a battery fire and to optimize the response in case it occurs.

Are battery energy storage systems safe?

Owners of energy storage need to be sure that they can deploy systems safely. Over a recent 18-month period ending in early 2020, over two dozen large-scale battery energy storage sites around the world had experienced failures that resulted in destructive fires. In total, more than 180 MWh were involved in the fires.

What happened to Terra-Gen's valley center battery storage project?

Battery storage is a key piece of California’s clean energy transition. But there’s a problem with fires Terra-Gen’s Valley Center battery storage project opened in February 2022. A fire at the facility in September briefly shut down operations.

What is battery energy storage fire prevention & mitigation?

In 2019, EPRI began the Battery Energy Storage Fire Prevention and Mitigation – Phase I research project, convened a group of experts, and conducted a series of energy storage site surveys and industry workshops to identify critical research and development (R&D) needs regarding battery safety.

Can a large-scale solar battery energy storage system improve accident prevention and mitigation?

This work describes an improved risk assessment approach for analyzing safety designs in the battery energy storage system incorporated in large-scale solar to improve accident prevention and mitigation, via incorporating probabilistic event tree and systems theoretic analysis. The causal factors and mitigation measures are presented.

Are grid-scale battery energy storage systems safe?

Despite widely known hazards and safety design of grid-scale battery energy storage systems, there is a lack of established risk management schemes and models as compared to the chemical, aviation, nuclear and the petroleum industry.