White Paper on Case Study of Safe Installation of Second-Life Energy Storage System

Second-life batteries, also known as repurposed batteries, are batteries that have been used in one fielded application and are then reconfigured for use in a stationary energy storage system (ESS) application (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA] 2023a). A common example is the repurposing of electric vehicle (EV) batteries for use as an ESS connected to the electrical grid, either behind the meter tied to a residential or commercial building or in front of the meter as a utility-scale ESS. As EVs approach end of life or are otherwise taken out of service, demand has emerged for processes to recycle or reuse their batteries. In some instances, this demand is driven by legislation. California Senate Bill 615, for example, requires vehicle-traction batteries to be recovered and, where possible, repurposed (California Legislative Information 2024). Second-use batteries are poised for large growth in the next 10 years. Concerns have been raised about the safety of second-life batteries. This white paper provides an overview of tools and processes used to validate the installation of a research and development (R&D) application of a second-life ESS. The tools and processes utilized and presented here represent only one potential solution to address the aforementioned challenges. The goal is to demonstrate methods and strategies that may be used to demonstrate that risk has been reduced to an acceptable level. The acceptable level is unique to and will be determined by each Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) and specific installation. The analysis presented in this white paper may not be pertinent to all installations. In all cases expert judgement is necessary. The tools used in this process include: (1) blast-overpressure modeling using TNT equivalency or ExDAM; (2) computational fluid dynamics modeling using Fire Dynamics Simulator; (3) toxic gas plume modeling using EPIcode or ALOHA; (4) quantitative risk assessment using the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) methodology; and (5) hazard mitigation analysis.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.2172/3015701
• Record URL:
  • https://www.nlr.gov/docs/fy26osti/97967.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  National Laboratory of the Rockies

  Golden, CO  United States 

  Department of Energy

  Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  1000 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20585
• Authors:
  • Bartlett, Nicholas
  • Cullen, Andrew
  • Sekulic, Bill
  • Smith, Kandler
• Publication Date: 2026-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 38p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Electric batteries; Electric vehicles; Energy storage systems; Fires; Fluid dynamics; Hazard mitigation; Recycling; Risk assessment; Toxicity
• Subject Areas: Energy; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General); Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01985224
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: NLR/TP-1900-97967
• Contract Numbers: DE-AC36-08GO28308
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 7 2026 5:08PM