A fire broke out at an under-construction BESS project in Essex, England, on 19 February and was brought under control and then handed back to site management a day later.
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said that on Wednesday (19 February), firefighters responded to a fire at the battery energy storage system (BESS) project in East Tilbury, Essex.
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With close monitoring and a carefully controlled response, the crew contained the fire and made sure there was no risk to the wider community, it said.
The next day (20 February) the Service issued an update saying they were able to scale back their response and hand the site back over to site management, with area manager Dan Partridge saying:
“Over the last 24 hours, firefighters have worked tirelessly to contain the fire, prevent further risks and ensure the safety of the site and surrounding area. The response was supported by the site’s safety measures, including a reliable local fire water supply and appropriate spacing between battery units, which helped limit the spread of the fire. I would like to thank everyone involved in bringing this incident to a safe conclusion.”
Fire officers will carry out an investigation with the site owners and its equipment suppliers into the cause of the fire when it is safe to do so, the Service added.
Statera Energy project
In response to a request for comment, BESS owner-operator Statera Energy confirmed to Energy-Storage.news that the project in question belongs to the firm.
The firm is building a 300MW/600MWh BESS in Tilbury, called Thurrock, one of the largest under-construction projects in the UK, alongside a 270MW ‘flexible generation plant’, i.e. a gas-fired power plant.
Statera said it would not be issuing a statement in addition to the Fire Service’s, and didn’t name it as the Thurrock site. But the location of the Thurrock project matches that of the fire site in East Tilbury.
The Fire Service’s announcement said the fire was caused by a fault in one of the battery cells within a single containerised battery unit, leading to ignition. However, industry sources have commented that it may be hard to know the exact cause of the fire this early on.
See the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service’s updates here.
UPDATE (25 February 2025)
The day after this article was initially published, Statera provided Energy-Storage.news with the following statement which confirmed it was the Thurrock project. The spokersperson said that construction activities can now resume while an investigation into the cause of the fire is underway:
At approximately 4PM on Wednesday, a fire occurred in a single containerised battery unit at Statera Energy’s Thurrock BESS site, which is currently under construction. The site is not yet operational. The site was promptly evacuated, and the Fire Brigade arrived on the scene within 10 minutes.
The fire was swiftly contained by implementing a water curtain, and it was safely extinguished by Thursday afternoon. There was no risk to the public at any stage, the Fire Brigade has concluded its response, and the site has been open for construction activities since Friday.
The strategic safety planning of the site, which was designed and built in full compliance with NFPA standards, including the provision of both fire hydrants and a water lagoon, as well as adequate spacing between BESS units and includes a pre-agreed emergency response plan with the local fire service, all contributed to a safe and efficient resolution of the incident.
A thorough investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire and implement measures to mitigate any risk of future occurrences. We are grateful to the emergency services who acted swiftly to contain the incident in close collaboration with the local council and our personnel.
