According to news from foreign media, on March 3, the German fire department reported an explosion in an apartment building in southern Germany, which was caused by the explosion of a battery energy storage system installed in the basement due to a technical defect, followed by a fire in the basement and a shock wave. Several doors and windows were even pushed outwards and the entire roof structure was overturned.
Firefighters took the battery out of the building and caught fire again (Image source: Foreign media)
It is understood a skilled electrician pulled the fuse and then removed the battery. The local fire department said, "Five personnel wearing fire masks removed the battery from the basement, and the battery caught fire again outside. After it was extinguished, it was put into a bucket of water to cool."
Fortunately, no one was in the building when it exploded, so no one was injured. Currently, the house is now uninhabitable.
The battery energy storage system supplier is SENEC
On the seventh day after the accident, SENEC, a German battery energy storage system supplier, admitted that the products involved originated from the company and responded to the explosion.
SENEC announced to all users on its Facebook that it has remotely shut down all its home energy storage systems, including three products: SENEC.Home V3 hybrid, Senec.Home V3 Hybrid Duo, and Senec.Home V2.1.
SENEC said in the notice: The cause of the incident has not yet been identified, and there is currently no evidence that the battery was the cause of the explosion, and there is no indication that there are any technical problems with its energy storage system, but safety issues are its top priority, so shut down the energy storage system Purely a "precautionary measure".
In addition, SENEC promised to provide specific information on the restart as soon as a clearer understanding of the facts leading to the deflagration became available.
The battery supplier is Samsung SDI
According to data, by the end of 2020, the total domestic battery energy storage capacity in Germany reached 2.3GWh, and the average size of battery systems installed in households also increased from 8kWh in 2019 to 8.5kWh in 2020. The ever-increasing scale of installations has also made the issue of energy storage safety directly related to the personal and property safety of residents.
According to the information on SENEC's official website, its battery energy storage products use "Samsung SDI high-power density maintenance-free lithium batteries ". The product profile shows that the SENEC.Home V3 hybrid energy storage capacity has two specifications of 4.5 kWh and 9 kWh.