Vistra Energy Lithium-ion battery goes offline due to overheating, for the second time

Summary:

An energy storage facility owned by Vistra Energy in Moss Landing, California houses the largest lithium-ion battery in the world. The only problem is the battery packs keep on melting. Last weekend on February 13, the facility experienced another meltdown, the second in five months, according to local broadcaster KSBW. There were no flames, but ten lithium-ion battery packs had been melted. Vistra then released the following statement: "Late on February 13, the early detection safety system activated in the 100-megawatt Phase II building at our Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility. As is our protocol at all of our facilities, we contacted off-site emergency response out of an abundance of caution. The building’s systems contained the event without the need for outside assistance. There are no injuries to personnel."

Additional Discussion:

The previous fire had occurred in September and had set off sprinklers that damaged around 7,000 batteries. Lithium-ion batteries not only ignite easily but also produce fires that are difficult to contain because water does not put them out. Vistra added that it was now looking further into the new incident. While this is in its very early stages, what is known is that the water-based suppression system released water that contacted some batteries. The company stated that early evidence indicates that water hoses leaked and that some batteries shorted, creating smoke in the building, similar to what was observed with the September incident at the 300-MW Phase I facility next door. In the meantime, the facility remains offline to avoid any future fire incidents while the problem is worked out.

Link:

• https://interestingengineering.com/lithium-ion-battery-overheating
• https://www.fmglobal.com/research-and-resources/research-and-testing/research-technical-reports

Associated Files:

• RFLithiumIonBatteriesIIB
• rflithiumionbatterieshazard