For projects at the same location, there is a “higher financial risk” from fire incidents

Even if the fire does not spread to the co-located facility, it may need to be shut down while the fire is fought. This means that the co-located facility may experience costly downtime even if it is not directly affected by the fire.

According to the report, a fire in a battery energy storage system (BESS) could cost developers, owners or operators up to $2 million, consisting of the loss of an asset and the loss of revenue from up to 18 months of downtime.

Insufficient focus on the fire risk of solar projects

Firetrace said that although the number of co-location projects is increasing, there is a greater focus on fire risk with BESS compared to solar projects. Firetrace cited data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing that co-location solar and BESS will account for 81 percent of new electricity generation capacity in the US this year, representing 36.4 GW of additional solar capacity and 14.2 GW of BESS capacity.

Firetrace explained that conducting fire assessments for solar and wind projects is not currently a legal requirement, while asset owners are required to consider BESS fire risk.

“When BESS are added to existing solar or wind projects, the focus is often on the fire risk associated with the new battery installations. There may be less inclination to take a holistic view of the entire site,” the company said.

In addition, retrofitting fire suppression systems in existing renewable energy projects is more expensive than incorporating them in the original design. Some U.S. states adopt the International Fire Code for BESS, while others follow the National Fire Protection Association’s code. The differences could make planning their renewable energy projects more complex for project owners.

Finally, Firetrace suggested that solar project owners should ensure that their solar systems are regularly tested by independent third parties, install additional safety components, create standardized quality assurance measures and ensure that defective or prematurely aged components are replaced promptly.