Team of experts to look into ESS fires

The government will be launching another round of investigations into the string of fires at energy storage systems this past year. In June, it had issued set of measures on the cause behind the fires and to prevent similar accidents, but three more fires occurred over the past month.

On Monday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will be launching a team of investigators formed of members of academia, and those recommended by the National Assembly and battery makers, according to industry watchers on Oct. 11. The group was tailored after the team that looked into the fires at BMW engines.

The battery industry welcomed the move, saying that the uncertainties need to be eliminated in order for the business to become normalized. The ministry is now hoping for the newly added experts to clarify what went wrong.

However, due to the presence of some of the investigators in the original investigation team, not to mention that a ministry-affiliated agency will be handling the tests and analyses, critics aren’t too upbeat about the results. Industry watchers believe further investigations by a third, independent party, may be required.

Previously, when the Galaxy Note 7 batteries exploded, Samsung Electronics had enlisted the investigation to global safety certification institutes in order to ensure transparency.

On Oct. 7, both LG Chem and Samsung SDI faced heat for the ESS fires at the parliamentary audit against the Trade Ministry.

The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.