SK On passes large-scale fire test, bolstering ESS safety credentials

SK On, the battery division of SK Group, recently passed a rigorous fire safety test for its energy storage systems (ESS), a significant step in the company's efforts to grow in the global market for large-scale energy storage solutions. On Wednesday, SK On announced that its ESS products had met the evaluation criteria under UL 9540A, a stringent North American standard utilized to gauge how battery thermal runaway can propagate heat and fire to surrounding equipment.

The testing involved a large-scale fire scenario, designed to mimic a genuine ESS fire, with the primary objective of determining whether flames or excessive heat would spread to neighboring battery units. Notably, the company reported that during the test, battery cells in adjacent containers did not experience thermal runaway due to the heat originating from the burning cell, and temperatures within these containers remained within the predetermined evaluation limits.

The company attributes this positive outcome to a unique system design, which releases heat gradually over an extended period. This design feature effectively limits sudden spikes in temperature, thereby reducing the risk of fire propagation. The revised evaluation criteria, which came into effect in March, were implemented to establish more precise guidelines for assessing fire spread in ESS.