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Fire Incident at Hainan 35MWh Energy Storage Station and Analysis of Its Firefighting System

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Fire Incident at Hainan 35MWh Energy Storage Station and Analysis of Its Firefighting System

On May 26, 2024, around 14:00, a fire occurred in a lithium iron phosphate battery pre-assembly cabin at a 70MW photovoltaic-storage hybrid energy station in Hainan. The fire destroyed one battery pre-assembly cabin but did not result in any casualties. The fire did not spread, and there were no secondary disasters. Recently, Han Yu from the Ministry of Emergency Management and Han Zizhong from the Hainan Provincial Fire and Rescue Corps conducted a review of the energy storage fire accident. Their analysis revealed several issues with the firefighting system at the project site.

1. Fire Investigation

According to the EMS alarm records, at noon on the day of the incident, the energy storage system in PCS Cabin 6 was powered on, and the charging pressure plates were activated to charge at full power. About an hour later, the control system for four clusters in PCS Cabin 6 repeatedly triggered emergency shutdowns and restarts. Another hour later, video surveillance detected sparks at the bottom of the middle section of the electrical room in the battery pre-assembly cabin. A BMS (Battery Management System) Level 3 fault occurred in Cabin 6, triggering the fire alarm and activating the Novec 1230 fire extinguishing system. The personnel on-site attempted to handle the situation without success, and immediately dialed 119 to report the fire.

Upon inspection, it was found that Cabin 6 had been fully burnt, with the safety valves of all battery modules open, and the Novec 1230 fire suppression cylinders had changed color due to high temperatures, releasing all the gas. The battery clusters in Cabin 6 were removed for comparison, revealing that Cluster 2 was the most severely damaged, with the degree of damage to other clusters decreasing with distance from Cluster 2.

After a comprehensive investigation, it was determined that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the distribution box at the bottom of Cluster 2 inside the battery pre-assembly cabin, triggered by an external high-voltage impact.

2. Firefighting System Analysis

After the fire broke out, the Novec 1230 fire extinguishing system discharged its agent, which helped suppress and contain the fire. Firefighters then intervened by cutting off the power supply and organizing forces to conduct continuous cooling and isolation using mobile water cannons and firefighting robots. After 24 hours of uninterrupted cooling, the fire was effectively contained and prevented from spreading. The battery cluster doors were opened in batches to extinguish the fire, and the on-site operations were completed 2 hours later. Some firefighting personnel remained to monitor the site. The total firefighting and cooling time was approximately 26 hours, with over 2000m³ of water used.

1). Firefighting System at the Energy Storage Station

The station is equipped with a firefighting water supply system, consisting of five outdoor fire hydrants and a 216m³ firefighting water tank. Each battery pre-assembly cabin is equipped with an automatic fire alarm system, a Novec 1230 fire suppression system, combustible gas detectors, and explosion-proof ventilation devices. The station also has a fire control room and pump house, along with firefighting equipment and circular fire truck access roads.

2). Issues with the Firefighting System

① Insufficient Fire Separation Distance (3 meters)

The fire separation distance between the pre-assembly cabins in this project is only 3 meters, making it easy for the fire to spread when an incident occurs.

② Lack of Precision in Protection Units

The system lacks a PACK-level firefighting solution designed for individual battery modules. The Novec 1230 fire suppression system is only effective within the cabin (i.e., at the cabin level of protection), but fires often originate inside the battery modules. This limits the ability to cool and suppress the fire at the origin, missing the optimal time to control the fire.

③ Absence of Sprinkler System

When fire spread has already occurred or there is a potential for further escalation, implementing a large-dose immersion water-based firefighting approach can effectively prevent the accident from worsening while buying time for necessary firefighting efforts. In this case, nearly 2000m³ of production water was used as emergency firefighting water. After 24 hours of continuous cooling, the fire was successfully prevented from spreading to other energy storage cabins.

Future Energy is a Branch of YanSai Group, located in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, is a renewable energy solution provider, dedicated to sustainable and zero-emission society.

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