The world's largest battery power plant is on fire in California (1 photo + 3 videos)
Category: Fires and Catastrophes, PEGI 16
Today, 21:26
As is our good old tradition, we start Saturday with news from overseas. 
It's still hot in long-suffering California. Okay, we're grown-ups, serious people, so here's some serious news.
Tens of thousands of lithium batteries are stored at the Moss Landing power plant warehouse in Moss Landing, which is about 130 kilometers south of San Francisco. So last Thursday, something happened there, and then everything caught fire.
"The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an investigation will begin after the fire is extinguished," the company said.
Lithium battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish. They burn at high temperatures and can emit toxic gases that can cause breathing problems, skin burns, and eye irritation.
Texas-based Vistra Energy, which owns the plant, called the facility "the largest of its kind in the world," with a capacity of 750 megawatts and 3,000 megawatt-hours when it expands in 2023. It plays a critical role in stabilizing California's power grid.
It houses tens of thousands of lithium batteries that are used to store electricity generated by solar panels and other sources during the day for use at night. Such battery power plants are a key part of California's efforts to transition to renewable energy.
Monterey County officials said at a briefing that they were aware of a plume of materials, including toxic hydrogen fluoride, but they assured locals that everything was fine, not to worry, as air quality monitoring equipment had not detected any increase in hydrogen fluoride levels.
There were no casualties among civilians, plant personnel, or rescue workers.
