As nations worldwide accelerate their deployment of energy storage solutions to meet the demands of the ongoing global energy transition, Firetrace International, a leading provider of fire suppression solutions supporting safe operations in the renewable energy industry, announces the launch of a fire suppression solution customised specifically for the needs of the battery energy storage sector.
According to BloombergNEF data, global energy storage installations are anticipated to achieve a cumulative capacity of 411GW by the end of 2030 – a remarkable 15-fold surge compared to the 27GW of storage capacity that was operational by the end of 2021. The U.S. government’s $10.5 billion initiative to enhance grid resilience by providing financial support for projects that will incorporate battery storage technologies, alongside continued IRA initiatives, demonstrates government commitment to this growth. However, the surge in battery energy storage system (BESS) fires has become a significant concern, and projects in the US and Canada have been cancelled in 2023 as a direct result.
Currently, the industry advocates for the implementation of water deluge protection systems in all projects, a crucial measure to prevent fires from spreading from one container to the next within a site and protect the surrounding environment. However, these systems provide cooling and fire suppression but do not prevent a thermal runaway event or protect all the components in a battery asset to prevent fires spreading from other parts.
In contrast, Firetrace’s system works in tandem with water deluge systems, aiming to suppress fires before they spread within an asset, minimizing the risk of a thermal runaway event. Unlike existing solutions that often concentrate solely on lithium-ion batteries and aim primarily to contain fires, Firetrace’s solution is engineered to protect the entire BESS asset with protection for electrical cabinets as well as total flood protection for battery racks.
Safeguarding these other components of an asset is crucial – these constitute 40% of the total asset cost, reaching up to $500,000, and protecting these areas drastically reduces the risk of fire spreading from the electrical cabinets to the battery, while minimizing the reliance on the ‘last resort’ deluge systems.
Fire incidents on BESS assets can cost developers, owners or operators up to $2 million as a result of the catastrophic loss of an asset and loss of revenue from up to 1.5 years’ worth of downtime. Fitting or retrofitting comprehensive fire suppression solutions costs a small fraction of this and these figures do not account for further costs associated with increased insurance premiums, wider environmental damage, and damage to business and industry reputation.
Another cost owner operators need to mitigate is the cost of false activations, an increasing issue in the sector, which can reach up to $900,000 based on clean-up costs and downtime when using aerosol or water deluge solutions. Firetrace’s systems are robust and designed to eliminate the possibility of false activations. Even in the event of a false activation, there are no clean-up requirements due to the solution’s targeted, clean agent approach.
Brian Cashion, Engineering Manager at Firetrace International, said: “Current fire suppression systems are primarily focused on the lithium-ion batteries. Having worked in the renewable energy sector for 14 years and installed our technology on over 15,000 assets to date, we have seen the same power conversion equipment used in BESS assets, causing fires in wind and solar assets. In response, we have worked with our partners in the sector to bring a bespoke BESS solution to the market that responds to its specific needs.
“More fire incidents could drive public opposition to BESS projects further, hampering the entire industry. In tandem with our solution, the industry must also foster collaborative efforts to establish and uphold safety standards. Developers should engage and establish communication channels with local authorities, fire, and rescue services. At Firetrace, we work with hundreds of partners including manufacturers, health and safety specialists and local firefighting resources across the globe and remain committed to continually improving our product and on working on fire suppression solutions for other battery technologies in order to play our role in supporting the success of the industry.”
