Lithium-ion UPS Behind the 'Kakao Incident'... Safety Standards Remain a Blind Spot

'Kakao Incident' Pangyo Data Center... Passed 57 Safety Inspections
Fire-Damaged UPS Excluded from Inspections... Blind Spot in Current Regulations
Shift from Lead-Acid to Lithium-Ion Batteries... Increased Fire Risk

SK C&C Data Center Fire Ignition Point
(Seoul=Yonhap News) The SK C&C Data Center fire site in Pangyo, revealed to the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee members on the 17th of this month. The emergency battery in the electrical room on the third basement floor, the ignition point, is burned. 2022.10.18 [Captured from Facebook of Yoon Young-chan, Democratic Party of Korea. Redistribution and DB prohibited]
photo@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Although the SK C&C Pangyo Data Center has undergone more than 50 safety inspections since its completion, it has been confirmed that inspections on the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that triggered the ‘Kakao outage’ incident were not properly conducted. This is due to the complete lack of safety regulations for UPS equipped with lithium-ion batteries. Recently, as companies have been replacing UPS materials from traditional lead-acid batteries to lithium-ion batteries, which have a higher fire risk, for economic reasons, concerns are growing that a second Kakao outage incident could occur at any time.

According to data submitted by the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation to the office of Kim Seong-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the SK C&C Pangyo Data Center has undergone 57 electrical safety inspections by the Electrical Safety Corporation from its completion in 2016 to the present, all of which received passing scores. This means the government conducted safety inspections on the data center about 9.5 times per year. However, UPS equipped with lithium-ion batteries was excluded from the inspection targets, placing it in a blind spot during the 57 safety inspections.

The UPS is a type of emergency power supply that substitutes power when the central power is cut off. Typically, data centers prepare for power outages by having both UPS and emergency generators to prevent server interruptions. However, this incident began when a fire broke out in the UPS battery. UPS batteries are stored in a charged state for long periods, making them less stable than batteries used regularly. The fire originating from a single battery caused the entire data center to shut down.

The reason why such a high-risk UPS was in a safety standard blind spot lies in the battery material. Originally, the core material for UPS batteries was lead-acid batteries, but recently, replacement with lithium-ion batteries has become active. Lithium-ion batteries have 2 to 3 times longer lifespan and higher energy density than lead-acid batteries, improving economic efficiency.

The problem is that current regulations were designed under the assumption that ‘UPS = lead-acid battery.’ Unlike lithium-ion batteries, which can cause ‘thermal runaway’ at 180?200 degrees Celsius, lead-acid batteries have a significantly lower risk of leading to large-scale accidents such as explosions. This is one reason why UPS was not included in data center safety inspections.

There is also a view that the government’s response was delayed. Although UPS fires have consistently occurred about 10 times annually, the stagnation of regulations has been criticized as a problem with the government’s safety awareness. In fact, it is reported that the government recognized this blind spot while establishing the ‘Energy Storage System (ESS) Safety Measures’ in the first half of this year.

The government intends to accelerate the strengthening of UPS safety standards. The Office for Government Policy Coordination is currently reviewing the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s ‘UPS Safety Standards Proposal.’ The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to implement the proposal within this year if possible.

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