Government Announces Investigation Results
Unable to Identify Cause of Ignition
Safety Concerns Remain Unresolved
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The government has released the investigation results on the fire at the Pangyo data center that caused the 'Kakao blackout' incident. Although it was revealed that the fire started from a battery, the exact cause of ignition could not be identified. As a result, doubts about the safety of lithium-ion batteries remain unresolved.
The Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the National Fire Agency announced the investigation results on the SK C&C Pangyo data center fire and the service disruptions of value-added communication services such as Kakao and Naver on the 6th.
The fire broke out at 3:19 p.m. on October 15th in the battery room on the third basement floor of the SK C&C Pangyo data center, and the fire was extinguished at 11:45 p.m.
During this process, the Battery Management System (BMS), which monitors battery temperature and other factors, showed no abnormal signs of fire until just before the fire occurred. This is consistent with SK C&C’s earlier explanation that the battery’s current and voltage remained stable without change on the BMS.
Additionally, since the lithium-ion batteries were located in a space not completely physically separated from some uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), the heat from the fire caused the UPS to malfunction, resulting in partial power supply interruptions. To prevent electric leakage before spraying water to extinguish the fire, the entire power supply was cut off, and servers that did not receive power from the stopped UPS shut down.
The battery industry has expressed skepticism about the investigation from the start, stating that it would be difficult to determine the cause of the fire after the batteries were burned. They also argued that even if the fire started from the battery, the battery might not be the cause of the fire. However, since the government investigation did not clearly identify the ignition cause, negative perceptions about the battery have not been alleviated.
Furthermore, SK On, which supplied the batteries to the Pangyo data center, has been left with concerns about product reliability. SK On has recently embarked on large-scale battery investments with Ford and Hyundai Motor Company, but the unclear cause of the fire has added to their burden.
Some have criticized the government’s announcement as insufficient. Professor Park Cheol-wan of the Smart Automobile Department at Seojeong University said, "To find the fundamental cause of this fire, scientific data such as the forensic fire investigation report from the National Forensic Service should be disclosed for verification," adding, "The government’s announcement did not disclose any data, leaving doubts."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
