E19 - The Changing Landscape of Clean Energy and Impacts of Fire

While fires in the clean energy space are rare, they do still occur. In recent years, there has been several solar farms, battery energy storage facility fires making headlines and the estimate of a wind turbine catching fire varies from 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 15,000 per year. The growth and demands for clean energy are increasing at an exponential rate. As more renewable energy resources come online, new technologies are developed, and existing assets age, the frequency of fires and expectation of mitigation measures is likely to increase.

A fire at a solar or wind farm or within a battery energy storage facility can be a catastrophic and costly event. With developments in battery energy storage systems and more solar farms coming online, a fire can have a significant impact to reputation, downtime and replacement costs. On a wind farm, as turbines have increased in both size and capacity, the cost of replacement is estimated at $7-8 million, which is nearly double the cost over the last six-years. Other challenges faced by owners and operators is the expectation from local communities, authorities, and insurance to align on mitigation measures that meet the evolving technologies. Our poster will present what factors put clean energy assets at a higher risk of fire, the implications during and after a fire, mitigation efforts, and what recommendations and regulations currently exist.