The facility was still burning for nearly two weeks, showing how hard it is to fully extinguish lithium battery fires.
The Otay Mesa energy storage facility fire showed how hard was to fully extinguish lithium battery fires. That’s why some North County residents do not want a similar facility in their neighborhood. KPBS North County reporter Alexander Nguyen takes us to a neighborhood near Escondido, where residents are fighting against a proposed battery storage project.
The concern is that batteries will overheat, leading to a chemical reaction with adjacent batteries that can cause fires in what's known as thermal runaway.“Lithium-ion fires are always a huge consideration of ours, and we always design our projects to mitigate that risk," Guarniere said."And what we specifically do on our projects is we take a four-stage approach.”
“This is not just a fire," she said."This is toxic. Like fumes that you can't breathe. If you breathe, it could damage you for life. It could kill you.” "If we can't prove that, then we have to redesign the project, and we won't install it that way," Guarniere said."And the reason we do that now is because then we're essentially proving that if there is a fire and there is a failure and a catastrophic event won't occur."
Guarniere said this project aligns with California's goal to achieve a 100% carbon-free energy grid by 2045.
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