[2020 National Audit] "338 Solar Power and ESS Fires in 5 Years... Damage Amount 35.5 Billion Won"

"34 Public Institutions Hesitant to Install ESS Due to Fire Safety Concerns"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that there were 338 fire incidents at solar power facilities and energy storage systems (ESS) over the past five years. The damage amounted to 35.5 billion KRW.

According to the 'Solar Power and ESS Fire Status' report received by Lee Juhwan, a member of the People Power Party on the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee, from the Fire Department on the 21st, 338 fires occurred from 2016 to 2020, causing property damage worth 35.5 billion KRW.

The number of incidents increased significantly from 79 cases (2.22755 billion KRW) in 2016 to 46 cases (6.95719 billion KRW) in 2017. In 2018, there were 96 cases (17 billion KRW), and last year recorded 76 cases (17 billion KRW). This year, until August, there were 41 cases with damages of 5.6 billion KRW.

The largest damage was in Gangwon with 7.25 billion KRW (16 cases), followed by Jeonnam with 6.83 billion KRW (33 cases), Gyeongnam with 6.15 billion KRW (50 cases), and Ulsan with 4.84 billion KRW (5 cases).

By number of incidents, Gyeonggi had the most with 68 cases, followed by Gyeongnam with 50 cases, Jeonnam with 33 cases, Jeonbuk and Chungbuk with 27 cases each, and Gyeongbuk with 25 cases.

By location, residential spaces such as houses accounted for the most with 126 cases, followed by outdoor facilities with 75 cases, industrial facilities such as power generation facilities with 48 cases, and educational facilities such as schools with 8 cases.

There were 29 cases (8.5%) where the cause of the fire was not identified.

Rep. Lee pointed out that even public institutions are reluctant to install ESS due to safety concerns related to ESS fires.

There are a total of 254 institutions required to install ESS, but only 52 (20.5%) have completed installation. Rep. Lee stated, "Among the 202 institutions that have not installed ESS, 34 said they did not install it due to safety concerns."

Rep. Lee said, "Solar power facilities have been indiscriminately established without proper safety verification and preventive measures, as safety has not been verified and unexplained fires have occurred," adding, "Urgent measures for proper fire prevention and safety are needed."