Government Mandates ESS Conformity Certification... Strengthening Safety Standards

On the 9th, visitors are viewing the POSCO battery pack at 'InterBattery and 2021 xEV Trend Korea' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Safety standards will be strengthened to prevent fire damage of energy storage systems (ESS) used in conjunction with solar power generation. A committee for fire investigation and a recall system will also be newly established.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the "ESS Safety Enhancement Measures" on the 3rd. Based on the investigation results of ESS fires that occurred in four locations including Haenam, Jeonnam from 2020 to 2021, the government decided to strengthen battery safety standards, improve battery manufacturing processes, and revise safety standards for self-extinguishing equipment and ventilation facilities.

Earlier, the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation announced the day before that the cause of fires in all four locations was estimated to be "internal battery abnormalities." The ministry plans to first mandate conformity certification to prevent thermal runaway of battery cells.

In addition, the current regulation on charging rate limits will be changed to a warranty life standard. This is to design battery capacity based on warranty life and to ensure users operate within the warranty life capacity.

Safety standards will also be revised so that an alarm sounds under certain conditions when a ground fault (current flowing to the earth) occurs. Battery manufacturers have voluntarily agreed to improve manufacturing processes to resolve issues in battery production.

The government will also promote the installation of self-extinguishing systems to prevent fire spread, installation of pressure relief valves to prevent battery room explosions, and mandatory periodic safety inspections.

The ministry will establish a provisional Electrical Equipment Accident Investigation Committee related to fire accident investigations, and introduce a system to order recalls from manufacturers for defective electrical equipment and components based on the committee’s investigation results.

Furthermore, insurance enrollment related to electrical equipment disasters will be made mandatory, and additional safety standards tailored to various ESS including used batteries will be introduced.

The government will develop and promote non-lithium, long-cycle, and high-reliability electric storage devices for industrial development, and also promote large-scale electric storage device installations led by public institutions such as Korea Electric Power Corporation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.