Guidelines for the fire safety of battery energy storage systems

In order to utilize renewable energy sources such as solar and wind to their full potential, we need to be able to store the energy produced by these sources. One way to do this is to use battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Li-ion batteries are the dominant type of batteries on the market today. They offer excellent performance in terms of energy and power density but has a drawback when it comes to safety. Li-ion batteries can enter a state called thermal runaway, which is a state of rapid self-heating. In addition, the electrolyte is flammable which means that fire safety of BESS installations is crucial.

As of today, there are no national regulation, rules, requirements, advice, or standards available in Sweden on how to design a BESS in terms of fire safety. The lack of national advice leads to an uncertainty on how BESS should be designed and if and where they can be installed. Without national advice, each municipality and local rescue service must create their own advice and requirements. For the supplier and the installer of BESS, it will be impossible to develop a solution that could be used throughout the country. Additionally, the constant required ad hoc solutions will result in more expensive installations which mayin-turn hinder the transition to a fossil-free society.

The purpose of this project was to utilize existing research on the fire safety of Li-ion batteries, performed both at RISE and elsewhere, to support different stakeholders (such as the Swedish rescue service, suppliers and installers as well as the customers that want to install BESS) with guidelines on the fire safety of BESS installations. 

For report (in English) and the guidelines produced (in Swedish) use the links to the right.