A fire at a battery factory in South Korea killed 22 people, and the stock price of the parent company fell by more than 20%, which had a geometric impact on the lithium industry

Interface News

2024-06-24 22:29Posted on the official account of Beijing Jiemian News

Interface News Reporter | Banker key

On June 24, a series of violent explosions and fires broke out at a lithium-ion battery factory in South Korea, killing 22 workers, including more than 10 Chinese citizens.

According to a report from the global network, South Korea's Gyeonggi Provincial Fire Disaster Headquarters reported that as of 17:55 local time on the 24th, the death toll from the battery factory fire has risen to 22.

It was the deadliest fire in South Korea since a fire at a construction site southeast of Seoul in 2020 killed 38 people.

According to the official WeChat message of the Chinese Embassy in South Korea, according to the report of the South Korean side on the evening of the 24th, it was preliminarily confirmed that more than 10 Chinese citizens unfortunately died in the accident, and the specific information is still being verified.

After the fire accident, more than 160 firefighters and 60 fire trucks rushed to extinguish the fire. Footage from the scene taken after the fire was extinguished showed the white building of the factory being charred and the roof caving.

There are 11 buildings in the factory area involved, and the fire broke out on the second floor of the third building. At that time, the third building had a total of 67 employees, 15 on the first floor and 52 on the second floor.

Workers fleeing the scene of the fire told the media that the fire was caused by a battery fire and triggered a series of explosions in some of the 35,000 lithium batteries stored on the second floor of the factory.

The lithium-ion battery plant where the accident occurred belongs to battery manufacturer Aricell, which was established in 2020 to produce lithium primary batteries for sensors and radio communication equipment.

Lithium primary battery produced by Aricell, image source: company's official website

Aricell is S-Connect's lithium primary battery brand, with an annual production capacity of 5 GWh, accounting for about 1.25% of South Korea's total annual battery production capacity. S-Connect's stock price fell 22.5% on the day.

Founded in 2000 as a metalworking business for smartphones, tablets and laptops, S-Connect has since expanded into the lithium-ion battery industry, including lithium primary and rechargeable batteries.

A lithium primary battery is a non-rechargeable battery whose chemical reaction is complete and cannot be used again, making it widely used in industrial equipment, measuring tools, medical devices, and military applications.

At present, the more common lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles on the market can be used multiple times after charging and is a secondary battery.

Lithium-primary batteries do not suffer from the thermal runaway problems common with lithium-ion batteries, but they can still present a fire risk if physical damage or overheating occurs. After combustion, lithium primary batteries release lithium fumes and other toxic substances.

Due to the small overall production capacity of Aricell, it is expected to have a limited impact on the supply and demand pattern of the industry, but this fire once again sounded the alarm bell for lithium battery safety.

Energy storage fires caused by thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries have occurred frequently in recent years, and just last month, a fire broke out at the Gateway energy storage power station in San Diego, California, USA, which lasted for more than a decade.

The energy storage battery used in the energy storage power station is a ternary cathode material lithium-ion battery, which will produce a large amount of combustible gases such as hydrogen and oxygen after thermal runaway, and will be more violent once burned.

In April 2021, an energy storage power station in Beijing's Fengtai District also caught fire and exploded. In the process of the fire department's disposal of the south area of the power station, the north area of the power station suddenly exploded without warning, resulting in the death of 2 firefighters, the injury of 1 firefighter, and the loss of contact with 1 employee in the power station.

Previously, there have been several fires in South Korea's battery energy storage system.

In April 2021, the energy storage system (ESS) of a photovoltaic power plant in South Korea caught fire, burning an area of 22 square meters, causing a total loss of about 440 million won (about 2.58 million yuan).

In January 2022, a fire broke out at SK Energy in South District, Ulsan, South Korea, in a three-story building with no casualties.

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