– The report is an analysis of BESS failures based on EPRI’s database, aiming to identify root causes and improve performance and safety.
– Failure incidents decreased by 97% between 2018 and 2023, but lack of transparency around root causes still hinders understanding and prevention of failures.
– Classifying failure events by cause is recommended to improve stakeholder knowledge and address issues in design, manufacturing, integration, and operation of BESS.
The first publicly available analysis of battery energy storage system (BESS) failures, based on EPRI’s BESS Failure Incident Database, aims to address issues and concerns to improve BESS performance and safety. The rate of failure incidents has dropped significantly between 2018 and 2023, but there is often a lack of transparency around root causes of failures, hindering industry understanding and response.
While concerns about lithium battery safety are common, the report found that 65% of incidents were linked to battery operation and integration, rather than failures of battery cells or modules. The lack of a public resource categorizing failure events by cause, along with no federal requirement for incident reporting in the US, further limits transparency.
The report recommended classifying failure events by cause to enhance understanding of how failures occur and which components are most commonly responsible. BOS failures and control system issues were identified as the most common causes of failures, particularly in the integration, assembly, and construction phase of projects.
New projects are most vulnerable to failures, with 72% of incidents occurring during construction, commissioning, or within the first two years of operation. Improved transparency and classification of failure events by cause could help improve BESS performance and safety in the future.