A fire at a Vistra Energy lithium battery plant, the world’s largest grid storage facility, forced evacuations and closed a major highway in Northern California, highlighting risks of a technology crucial to renewable energy expansion.
The blaze, which started Thursday about 80 miles south of San Francisco, had diminished significantly by Friday, Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said, as crews let it burn out — a standard procedure for hard-to-extinguish lithium fires.
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This is a disaster,” Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church told KSBW-TV.
Officials lifted evacuation orders for 1,700 residents Friday evening after air quality checks, though advised keeping windows closed. The Environmental Protection Agency and company-hired consultants are monitoring air quality.
The facility experienced two overheating events since 2021, with a similar incident at a neighboring Pacific Gas & Electric battery plant in 2022. Despite such risks, experts maintain the technology is essential for grid reliability and emissions reduction.
“We are not convinced that this incident could materially shift the national trend of growing grid scale battery deployment,” said Timothy Fox, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners.
The fire comes as US utilities increasingly turn to battery storage, with costs down 90% since 2008. California leads the nation with 11 gigawatts of utility-scale storage, while Texas has rapidly added 5 gigawatts over the past year.
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