Tesla Megapack catches fire in 'minor incident' in Australia

Aerial photo of the 2021 Victorian Great Battery Fire incident, believed to be the first such incident involving Tesla Megapacks.

A fire broke out at a 50MW/100MWh grid-scale battery energy storage project in Queensland, Australia, as it entered the final stages of commissioning.

One of the 40 Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system (BESS) units at the Bouldercombe battery project in Rockhampton, about 640 kilometres from the state capital of Brisbane, caught fire last night, project owner and operator Genex Power said in a statement.

The American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in its statement that the fire, which broke out at around 7:45 p.m. local time, was "minor" and involved a "low-intensity fire." Police have urged nearby residents to "stay indoors and carry breathing medicine with them."

The ABC report noted that officials said hazardous smoke was spreading across the area - although Genex's brief statement did not mention this.

Genex did say that Queensland Fire and Emergency Services recommended that the fire be allowed to burn without water under their supervision. “Letting it burn” is one of the industry-recognized (and fire service-approved) strategies for responding to such fires, particularly those involving high-energy-density nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) lithium batteries.

Meanwhile, the fire remained contained to a single Megapack and did not spread to other units, while the BESS was disconnected from the grid. Genex launched the project in June and reached financial close and started construction in early 2022.

Genex said it would work with Tesla and high-voltage solutions provider Consolidated Power Projects to determine the root cause of the fire.

The incident is the latest unfortunate fire at a large battery storage facility this year, the most notable of which may have been three fires that occurred in succession in the spring and summer in New York State, USA.

Those issues prompted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to convene a working group of state agencies to address concerns about BESS safety as the state looks to significantly increase deployment of the technology.

Just a week ago, a fire at California developer Terra-Gen’s Valley Center 140MW/560MWh BESS site led to a four-hour shelter-in-place and evacuation order for nearby residents.

This is also believed to be the second fire at a Tesla Megapack, with the first also occurring in Australia, during pre-commissioning testing at the Victoria Big Battery, Australia’s largest lithium-ion battery project to date at 300MW/450MWh.

As with Genex's Bouldercombe project, the Victorian Big Battery fire did not spread beyond the initially affected unit.

However, the Guardian reported today that the Bouldercombe incident has already sparked a political debate about the use of battery storage technology.

Genex said the Bouldercombe project is nearing the final stages of commissioning, with completion expected in October.

(Original source: Energy Storage News Global Energy Storage Network, New Energy Network Comprehensive)