Operational Risk Management in the U.S. Energy Storage Industry: Lithium-Ion Fire and Thermal Event Safety
The U.S. energy storage industry is experiencing a period of significant growth, and with it, increased attention to all forms of risk management and hazard identification, particularly in project operations. As technologies have improved, costs dropped, and policies and incentives spurred demand, the number of installed stationary energy storage systems in the U.S. has increased dramatically.
In 2018, U.S. deployments of grid-connected battery energy storage reached 777 MWh, up 80% from 2017, and for 2019 another 40 gigawatts of energy storage deployments are projected, according to the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
Risk management is a necessary process for all technology development and operation of energy systems, whether it be for automobiles, fossil fuel power plants, consumer goods, and so on. Risk management is the careful and deliberate consideration of cause and effect; weighing costs and benefits of multiple goals held by multiple stakeholders, and iteratively improving through studies and experience.
