Firms urged to adapt approach to lithium-ion battery fire risks

QBE Europe is urging companies to put in place appropriate risk management and fire safety controls to tackle lithium-ion battery fire and health risks that have “crept up” and become a “big issue”.

Over the past decade, lithium-ion batteries have become pervasive. They are used in mobile devices and consumer goods like vapes, cordless power tools, e-bikes, electric cars and buses. Lithium-ion batteries can also be found in mobile plant equipment, such as forklift trucks, and large-scale energy storage facilities for factories, renewables and infrastructure.

Lithium-ion batteries have, however, been implicated in fires at both residential and commercial buildings, in shipping containers, with cars, busses and trucks, and in infrastructure and waste disposal sites.

A fire at the SNAM battery recycling plant in France this February containing 900 metric tons of lithium batteries took more than two days and 60 fire crews to control. In January 2024, the LiBatt battery recycling plant in the UK was hit by its second fire in six months. There have been around 700 battery fires in the UK waste sector, at a cost of some £250m.

In the first half of last year, there were 500 fire-related incidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters globally – double the number of incidents in the whole of 2020 – causing 36 fatalities.

“Ultimately, the scale of the hazard around e-scooters and e-bikes has not been realised by users and has crept up on us, and is now a big issue,” said Adrian Simmonds of QBE Risk Solutions.

Despite high-profile events, the number of lithium-ion battery fires is relatively low compared with the amount being used. There are around 5,000 fires per year from around 18 billion batteries, or around one fire per three million devices. And despite the negative perceptions around electric vehicles, statistics from Sweden found the fire rate for internal combustion engine vehicles is around 30 times that of electric vehicles. Fewer than a quarter of EV fires start in the battery.

Lithium-ion batteries, however, bring a higher risk of fire compared with traditional lead batteries. In the case of lithium NMC batteries, the risk is as much as three time higher. Damaged or faulty lithium-ion batteries can combust without a source of ignition, and can burn underwater or in inert gas, as the batteries generate their own oxygen and hydrogen.

Once on fire, lithium-ion batteries can be extremely difficult to extinguish. An uncontrolled exothermic reaction can generate temperatures in excess of 1,200 C, and as high as 2,000 C, emitting “jet flumes” of fire and burning material that enables fires to spread to nearby surroundings.

According to Simmonds, lithium-ion batteries burn “fast, intensely and generate a lot of smoke”. They can reignite many days or even weeks after they have been extinguished.

“That is what happens with lithium-ion battery fires, they keep coming back. You might think you have put the flames out with an extinguisher, but then the flammable gases are being released and will re-ignite,” he said.

Lithium-ion battery fires, which generate toxic and explosive gases, also bring considerable health hazards, including acute toxicity that damages organs, skin and eyes. Repeated exposure falls within the highest toxicity category, causing serious potential damage, according to Simmonds.

“You really do not want to be breathing in these gases that are released by a lithium-ion battery fire. You will require suitable PPE, and breathing apparatus if trained to use them,” he warned.

Given the fire and health risks from lithium-ion batteries, companies need to put specific appropriate fire safety management processes in place, said Simmonds.

“You need a different risk assessment, a different hazard evaluation. If you have anything with a lithium-ion battery – in an industrial or commercial environment – you need appropriate risk management and fire safety processes in place,” he said.

If a fire breaks out, companies are advised to call the emergency services and let it burn out, said Simmonds.

“Contain it, do not let the fire spread, move things out of the way if they are combustible. If you don’t have a firefighting team and the training, then don’t attempt it at all. Pick your fire extinguisher up and leave the area. Don’t do anything. You should call the fire brigade and let them deal with it. They will almost certainly will let it burn,” he said.

“You want it to burn and you want all the chemicals to burn themselves out. That is the approach the fire brigade are taking from small batteries to electric vehicles,” he added.

While current lithium-ion batteries are challenging to control, safety is expected to improve going forward. Not all batteries present the same fire risk, and technological advances will eventually reduce the risk of battery fires.

Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, for example, are less volatile and burn less ferociously. Longer term, safer battery types are in development, while manufacturers are developing new fire suppression medium and technology.

“Ultimately, we need something that can stop thermal runaway with the current type of lithium-ion batteries. If you can’t stop thermal runaway, the issue will just escalate and continue… The truth is we won’t be needing these solutions for non-flammable technologies with new battery development. They are only really needed for legacy lithium-ion batteries. But of course, also for new battery technologies with flammable content,” said Simmonds.

The goal is to create safer rechargeable batteries for the future, he explained. “The main aim is to eliminate the flammable toxic gas generation, increase energy power density multiple times, shorten the charge duration, extend the operational duration, and reduce the need for materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese,” he said.

The future will deliver safer and more powerful batteries, stressed Simmonds.

“Lithium-ion batteries pervade all parts of our lives. They are safe, if looked after, maintained correctly and returns are handled well. New hazard controls will help reduce the threat from the current lithium-ion batteries, but new technology is coming. It will be safer, and legacy lithium-ion batteries will eventually be replaced. We have probably got 30 years of managing them, but eventually that technology will be replaced,” he said.

In the meantime, QBE recommends a range of measures for companies that use lithium-ion batteries.

Good battery management involves suitable storage – typically separated from other goods, with bulk storage moved offsite. Damaged batteries or returned goods with lithium-ion batteries should be stored outside and away from the main building, until tested.

Buildings with a higher risk of battery fires, such as waste sites or vehicle garages and car parks, should not be built of combustible materials – use sprinkler protection where possible. Vehicles should not be charged under buildings or carparks.