Regulatory Gaps and Technological Immaturity: Key Barriers to the Development of Energy Storage Fire Protection
The energy storage industry is entering a phase of rapid development. However, the fire protection sector supporting energy storage systems remains in its early stages. Current product applications are relatively simple, primarily relying on gas-based fire extinguishers. The market size is still small and does not match the growth pace of the energy storage sector.
There are two main factors constraining the development of fire safety in the energy storage industry:
First, there is a lack of industry regulations and standards, and oversight remains weak. Due to the still limited scale of energy storage deployment, the market has not fully matured, and fire safety in the sector faces relatively few regulatory constraints. However, as the scale of the energy storage industry continues to expand, the importance of safety will become increasingly prominent. Correspondingly, relevant fire protection standards for energy storage systems are expected to be gradually established and improved. In addition, the frequent occurrence of energy storage-related incidents is drawing growing attention to this issue.
Second, the products and solutions for fire protection in the energy storage sector remain immature. Fire incidents in energy storage systems are characterized by complex scenarios, prolonged combustion, and high destructive potential—significantly different from more conventional environments such as buildings. As a result, traditional fire detection and suppression methods are often ineffective for energy storage applications. The absence of effective, tailored solutions has become one of the major bottlenecks limiting the development of fire safety in this field.
However, as the energy storage industry continues to gain momentum, both energy storage providers and fire safety companies are increasingly focusing on the development of suitable fire protection strategies. Collaborative efforts are being made to design and implement more effective fire detection and suppression systems specific to energy storage use cases, which is also expected to accelerate the formulation and implementation of industry standards.
Rapid Growth in Electrochemical Energy Storage Spurs Gradual Improvement of Fire Safety Standards
Energy storage technologies include pumped hydro storage, electrochemical storage, compressed air energy storage, molten salt storage, and flywheel storage, among others.
Among them, pumped hydro storage holds a dominant position in the current energy storage market due to its low cost and large capacity.
However, in recent years, the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry has led to a sharp decline in the cost of lithium batteries. As a result, electrochemical energy storage, primarily based on lithium battery technology, has seen significant growth in installed capacity.
This growth is largely driven by the advantages of electrochemical storage over pumped hydro: it is less constrained by geographical conditions and is better suited to compensate for high-frequency power fluctuations in energy systems.
As of 2025, the cumulative global energy storage capacity reached 191.1 GW, representing a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 3.4%. Among all technologies, pumped hydro storage accounted for the largest share, with a total capacity of 172.5 GW, up 0.9% YoY, and representing 90.3% of the global total.
Electrochemical energy storage had a cumulative installed capacity of 14.2 GW, accounting for approximately 7.5% of the total. Within the electrochemical category, lithium-ion batteries made up the majority, with 13.1 GW installed—representing 92.0% of the electrochemical storage capacity.
Since 2011, the pace of global energy storage installations has clearly accelerated, with growth showing a steady upward trend. In 2018, global electrochemical energy storage saw a significant expansion, with cumulative capacity increasing by more than 120% YoY. From 2024 to 2025, the cumulative global electrochemical storage capacity is projected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 50%.
Under the “dual carbon” goals, the demand for energy storage continues to grow. However, in recent years, a rising number of incidents involving electrochemical energy storage systems have occurred, resulting in significant social and economic losses. With larger-scale deployments on the horizon, the safety risks associated with energy storage are becoming more severe.
Over the past decade, more than 30 fire and explosion accidents have been reported globally at electrochemical energy storage power stations. Among them, three incidents occurred in China, including a recent accident in April this year at an energy storage station in Fengtai District, Beijing.
During construction and system commissioning, the station caught fire and exploded, causing 2 fatalities, 1 injury, and 1 missing person. The fire broke out around 12:00 noon and was not completely extinguished until 11:40 p.m. the same day.
Beijing Energy Storage Station Fire Incident
With the rapid growth of electrochemical energy storage capacity, and in light of the frequent and highly destructive accidents associated with it, government authorities are placing increasing emphasis on the safety management of energy storage systems.
Key Policies Related to Electrochemical Energy Storage Safety
Issuing Authority：National Energy Administration (NEA)
Policy Document：Interim Measures for the Safety Management of Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations
Key Content：(1) The main focus is to strengthen the inherent safety management of power plants.
(2) The main focus is to establish and improve the safety management system and incorporate energy storage safety management into the enterprise safety management system.
(3) The main focus is to strengthen the fire emergency management of power plants. By optimizing fire design, mandatory fire inspection and acceptance, implementing fire emergency management, and multi-party fire emergency linkage, we can effectively deal with accidents and dangers and minimize the loss of life and economic property.
Energy Storage Fire Protection: From Technical Barriers to Effective Product Solutions
How Do Lithium Batteries Catch Fire?
Structurally, lithium-ion batteries store a large amount of energy within a sealed space, inherently posing safety risks. The root cause of safety hazards in lithium-ion batteries is thermal runaway. This occurs due to a chain reaction triggered by side reactions involving organic small molecules inside the battery, which leads to the onset of thermal runaway.
Thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries can be divided into three stages:
Stage 1: Initial Phase of Thermal Runaway
Due to internal or external factors, the internal temperature of the battery rises to around 90–100°C. At this temperature, the SEI (Solid Electrolyte Interphase) passivation layer on the anode surface begins to decompose, releasing heat that causes a rapid increase in the battery’s internal temperature. When the temperature reaches approximately 135°C, the separator starts to melt and shrink, causing contact between the cathode and anode, which results in an internal short circuit and sustained heat generation.
Stage 2: Battery Swelling Phase
At temperatures between 250–350°C, the anode material (C6Li) or deposited lithium reacts with the organic solvents in the electrolyte. This reaction releases flammable hydrocarbon gases such as methane and ethane, accompanied by substantial heat generation, causing the battery to swell.
Stage 3: Thermal Runaway and Explosion Phase
In this stage, the charged cathode material continues to undergo violent oxidative decomposition reactions with the electrolyte, producing extremely high temperatures and large amounts of toxic gases. This leads to intense burning of the battery and can ultimately cause explosions.
Illustration of the Thermal Runaway Mechanism in Lithium-Ion Batteries
Why Are Lithium Batteries Difficult to Extinguish?
A lithium battery energy storage system is composed of dozens of cells connected in series and parallel to form battery modules. These modules are then connected in series to form battery strings, which are further integrated into a storage battery cabinet through parallel arrangements.
During a fire incident, thermal runaway in a single cell can trigger a chain reaction. Through heat transfer and thermal radiation, neighboring cells are induced into thermal runaway, eventually leading to a full-scale fire in the entire lithium battery energy storage system.
Fires in lithium-ion battery energy storage systems have unique characteristics compared to other types of fires:
Intense combustion and rapid thermal propagation
High toxicity, heavy smoke generation, and significant hazard
High risk of re-ignition and extreme difficulty in extinguishment
Key Characteristics of Lithium Battery Energy Storage System Fires:
Intense combustion and rapid heat propagation
High toxicity, dense smoke, and severe hazard
High risk of re-ignition and great difficulty in firefighting
Why Do Energy Storage Batteries Require Fire Protection Design, While EV Batteries Typically Do Not?
Compared with electric vehicle (EV) batteries, energy storage batteries pose a greater fire hazard. Early warning and preventive measures are crucial, as once a fire occurs, it can spread rapidly if not extinguished in time. Additionally, energy storage systems have more physical space to accommodate fire protection equipment, whereas EVs are more space-constrained.
From a structural perspective, both lithium-ion energy storage systems and EV battery systems share the same hierarchical components: individual cells, modules, battery packs, and full systems. However, the key difference lies in scale. Energy storage systems contain far more individual cells than EV battery systems, resulting in total energy capacities that are typically 10 to 100 times greater than those in electric vehicles.
For example, while an Electric Vehicle 144V 200Ah Lithium Battery Pack or Golf Cart 72V 150Ah Lithium-Ion Battery Pack may serve transportation needs efficiently, their energy capacity is significantly lower than that of grid-level energy storage systems. Consequently, in the event of a fire, the severity and potential impact of a storage battery system incident is much greater, necessitating dedicated fire protection designs.
Fire Mechanism:
Both energy storage systems (204V 200Ah Lithium Ion Battery 40KWh Lifepo4 Battery Energy Battery Storage System) and EV batteries (Electric Vehicle Lithium Battery- Golf Cart 144V 200Ah Battery Pack) can catch fire due to thermal runaway in a single cell caused by misuse. However, fire spread differs: in EVs, it usually spreads to nearby cells or modules; in storage systems, it can spread across multiple modules due to larger system size.
Fire Suppression Challenges and Solutions for Lithium-Ion Battery Energy Storage Systems
Conventional methods such as oxygen isolation or combustion chain interruption are insufficient to fully extinguish lithium-ion battery fires. Effective suppression must achieve both fire extinguishing and thermal cooling.
Solid extinguishing agents have little to no effect on lithium battery fires.
Gaseous agents offer limited efficiency and poor cooling performance.
Water-based agents, aside from being cost-effective and environmentally friendly, provide significant cooling and fire suppression.
For large-scale lithium-ion battery energy storage systems (ESS), the development of new, efficient, and re-ignition-resistant fire extinguishing agents, along with advanced agent delivery systems, is crucial. These innovations will enhance fire safety in electrochemical energy storage and promote the growth of the energy storage and fire protection industries.
