22 July 2021

Fire At Lithium-Ion Energy Storage Facility

The previous post was about a fire at a battery-disposal site. This is a story, about an apparently small fire, at the worlds second-largest lithium-ion battery, energy-storage facility. No evacuations for battery fire at energy storage facility east of Grand Ridge

Grand Ridge, IL is about 95 miles from downtown Chicago, give or take. Invenergy is a company, that among other things, runs industrial-scale wind farms in that part of the world.

For those of you who haven't been in that part of the Midwest, that section of Illinois, which is away from the rivers, is mostly flat. Grand Ridge is called that because it sits about 17 feet higher than the land for miles around. The wind can be wicked.

Invenergy’s Grand Ridge Energy Storage is the second-largest operating lithium ion battery project in the world based on it’s power rating according to the Energy Storage North America website.

It is a large facility, but apparently someone did their homework, and the batteries are separated into smaller containers, so that a problem in one doesn't mean it will spread to all.

Firefighters, including those from Marseilles, were on the scene trying to extinguish the fire and smoke was visible as of 1 p.m. The driveway toward the facility is closed and media was not allowed past that point.

Still, it is a cautionary tale about the use of lithium ion batteries. I still wouldn't park one in my garage.

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