Featured in Going global – 09-2022

Facing the heat

Lithium-ion batteries come with fire risks that the burgeoning renewable energy industry is not used to. For some that presents a false dichotomy where any fire in a battery project is a clear sign of future flammable failures, which can make it appear that all batteries are too risky to be used widely at large scale. The reality, writes Jamie Shaw-Stewart of Everoze, is that while Li-ion battery fires are a real risk, this risk is manageable as we learn more about the fires themselves and develop more bespoke battery engineering solutions.

By

pv magazine

05 Sep 2022

Battery fires are a relatively new phenomenon, so there is limited experience and few standards regulating the best and safest ways to deal with them. And this means increased risk for firefighters. | Image: Fire and Rescue NSW

It is very easy to focus on fires, but nearly all Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery fires originate as “thermal events,” which generate gas, and are potentially stoppable before full combustion commences. The main causes of these thermal incidents can be classified into three overarching causes: cell defects leading to internal short circuits; control malfunctions, where safety …

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