【By Liu Bai, Observer】The fire accident at the National Information Resources Management Institute in South Korea, caused by an explosion of a lithium battery pack, has intensified South Korean society's concerns about battery safety issues. Meanwhile, China's progress in battery explosion prevention technology has drawn attention.

In an exclusive report published on October 21st, the Chosun Ilbo pointed out that more than a decade ago, China was still lagging behind South Korea in this technology field. However, through active R&D investment, China has significantly led South Korea in patent competition, with the gap in related patent applications even expanding to more than twice.

The report said that with the advantage established in the field of lithium iron phosphate batteries, China has taken away South Korea's leadership position in the global battery market. Analysts say that if South Korea falls behind China in the lithium-ion battery explosion prevention technology field where it originally had a competitive advantage, the future of South Korea's battery industry will face serious challenges.

On May 19th, in Changsha, Hunan, an intelligent robot was assembling lithium-ion energy storage batteries. IC Photo

Documents submitted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office to the office of Rep. Lee Jechui of the People Power Party on October 20th showed that up until 2014, South Korea ranked first in battery explosion prevention-related patent applications (173 cases). However, starting from 2015, China (231 cases) surpassed South Korea (121 cases), and the situation reversed.

According to the latest statistics for 2023, China's number of related patent applications reached 2195, approximately 1.8 times that of South Korea (1219). Looking at the cumulative application share from 2004 to 2023, China accounted for 48.9%, while South Korea accounted for 24.3%, showing a significant gap.

It is worth noting that considering the importance of intellectual property for national strategy, according to the amendment to the Government Organization Act, since October 1st this year, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has been upgraded to the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP), directly under the Prime Minister.

At night on September 26th, a fire broke out at the National Information Resources Management Institute in South Korea, affecting multiple government services, with 647 government business systems stopping operation. Preliminary information indicated that the fire was caused by an explosion of a lithium battery pack in the server room.

The report mentioned that lithium-ion batteries are the core component of energy storage systems (ESS). However, just like the fire incident, fires caused by lithium-ion batteries continue to occur repeatedly. The scale of the fire was relatively small, but it took 22 hours to completely extinguish it. This is because to completely put out a battery fire, a large amount of water needs to be sprayed or the battery needs to be cooled in a water tank.

Experts stated that preemptively addressing battery explosion risks will become key to winning the second round of global battery dominance. Professor Yoo Seong-hoon from Seoul National University of Science and Technology said, "Although the number of patent applications does not guarantee the quality of technology, a large number of patents indicates the strength of R&D investment."

On September 26th, a fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service Center in Daejeon, South Korea, causing lithium-ion batteries to burn. This photo was taken on September 28th. IC Photo

With the popularization of electric vehicles and energy storage systems becoming an irreversible trend, the call for developing and accelerating the application of technologies that reduce battery fires is growing louder.

A person in the battery industry expressed concern: "The lithium iron phosphate batteries currently dominating the global market in China are also based on the technology from over a decade ago with a large number of patent applications," "The patents that China is now vigorously promoting to prevent battery explosions may be commercialized within just 10 years."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's budget for next year includes 4.46 billion won (about 220 million yuan) for battery-related R&D.

Lee Jechui said, "In the wake of battery explosion incidents such as the fire at the National Information Resources Management Institute, which directly caused huge losses to the people, our advantages in battery fire protection and safety technology have been taken away by China."

He added that the government must regain South Korea's competitiveness in the battery industry by implementing a customized support strategy for fire safety-related technologies.

Data from the well-known non-ferrous metals industry portal Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) shows that the main producers of global lithium-ion battery products are companies from China, Japan, and South Korea. Driven by China's vigorous development of new energy vehicle policies, China's lithium-ion battery industry scale began to grow rapidly from 2015, surpassing South Korea and Japan to become the global leader, with the gap gradually increasing.

In 2021, China's total output of lithium-ion batteries reached 324 gigawatt-hours, accounting for 57% of the global total; in 2022, the output increased to 738 gigawatt-hours, with the global market share rising to 68.3%; in 2023, the output reached 910 gigawatt-hours, occupying 71% of the global market share; in 2024, China's lithium-ion battery output reached 1170 gigawatt-hours, an increase of 28.6% year-on-year, with the global market share further expanding to 76%.

Earlier, in response to the U.S. tariff barriers and trade bullying, China announced that it would implement export controls on high-performance lithium batteries and their production equipment, as well as key materials such as positive and negative electrodes, triggering external attention.

U.S. media noted that the Chinese measures cover a wide range of the battery supply chain, including large lithium-ion batteries used for energy storage, as well as positive and negative electrode materials and battery manufacturing equipment, which are all technical fields where China has a strong leading advantage.

Bloomberg pointed out that given China's dominant position in the battery industry and the sharp increase in the U.S. demand for battery energy storage, this move could have a significant impact on U.S. companies.

This article is an exclusive work of the Observer, and without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7563583494711738932/

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