Largest battery storage plant in the world is on fire

Moss Landing (California/USA) - A major fire has broken out at the Moss Landing battery storage plant in California. The authorities are calling it a "catastrophe". 1500 residents have been called upon to leave their homes.

It is the largest facility of its kind in the world. Now the Moss Landing battery storage plant on California's Pacific coast is on fire.

According to what is known, the fire broke out at around 3 p.m. (local time) on Thursday in a hall for lithium-ion batteries. The authorities ordered the evacuation at around 6.30 pm, reports CNN. 1500 people had to leave their homes and are now housed in emergency shelters. The possibility of toxic chemicals escaping cannot be ruled out.

Videos show huge flames and black clouds rising ominously into the sky. The fire department is on site with a large contingent, trying to get the inferno under control.

Meanwhile, the police have set up a perimeter around the plant and roads have been cordoned off. There are no reports of injuries or fatalities, and staff were able to get to safety in time.

"There is no way to sugarcoat it. It's a disaster," said a high-ranking official to the KSBW radio station.

There is no connection with the devastating Los Angeles fires that have been raging since last week.

The damaged Moss Landing battery storage plant is operated by the US energy company Vistra. According to the company, it is the largest of its kind in the world.

Enormous lithium-ion batteries with a storage capacity of 750 megawatts are installed, reports the Politico portal - enough capacity to supply 562,000 households with electricity for four hours.

However, this is not the first time that an incident has occurred at the plant. In 2021, it overheated and several battery cells were damaged. In 2022, a fire broke out on the site of an adjacent battery factory.

It is still completely unclearwhy the most recent fire broke out. The operation is ongoing.