October 6, 2026
Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) has relocated the lithium-ion batteries used in its UPS system to a dedicated outdoor facility as part of a safety upgrade at its disaster recovery center in Sejong, South Korea.
The project highlights a growing consideration for data centers and other critical facilities: UPS battery safety depends not only on battery technology, but also on installation location, monitoring, fire protection, and physical separation from critical equipment.
UPS Batteries Relocated Outside the Main Building
KOSPO announced on September 29 that it had completed a next-generation Battery Safety System (BSS) at the Shinsejong Disaster Recovery Center after approximately 10 months of work.
A key part of the project was moving the center's UPS lithium-ion batteries from inside the building to a newly constructed external battery facility.
The change physically separates the battery system from the main IT infrastructure, helping limit the potential impact on critical equipment if a battery-related incident occurs.
New Fire Protection and 24-Hour Monitoring
KOSPO also introduced additional fire detection, suppression, and monitoring measures for the battery installation.
According to the company, the new system includes equipment designed to completely submerge the batteries within 15 minutes in the event of a fire.
Other safety measures include:
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Smoke detection
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Sprinkler protection
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Smoke exhaust systems
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CCTV monitoring
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Facility Management System (FMS) integration
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24-hour monitoring
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Integration with the local fire station's emergency response system
Together, these measures are intended to improve early detection and emergency response while reducing the risk of a battery incident affecting the disaster recovery center.
UPS Battery Safety Goes Beyond Battery Capacity
UPS batteries are normally selected according to factors such as load, DC bus voltage, and required backup time. For critical facilities, however, these are only part of the design.
Battery chemistry, room layout, operating temperature, DC protection, ventilation, monitoring, fire protection, and maintenance access also need to be considered.
This is particularly important as data centers install more battery capacity in increasingly compact spaces.
Lithium-ion and traditional VRLA batteries have different characteristics and safety requirements. Neither technology should be evaluated on capacity or footprint alone. The appropriate solution depends on the application, installation environment, maintenance strategy, and applicable safety requirements.
What This Means for Critical Power Systems
The KOSPO project is a useful reminder that UPS batteries should be considered as part of the complete critical power system rather than as a standalone component.
For data centers, hospitals, industrial facilities, and other critical loads, UPS equipment, batteries, DC protection, monitoring, ventilation, fire protection, and maintenance arrangements should be considered together during system design.
TAFENG Power supplies UPS and battery solutions for critical power applications, including low-frequency UPS systems for industrial and infrastructure projects.
Actual UPS and battery configurations should always be selected according to the load, required backup time, DC system voltage, installation environment, and project requirements.
Source: Korea Southern Power (KOSPO), September 29, 2026
Last updated: October 6, 2026
Editor's note: Battery installation and fire-protection requirements vary by battery chemistry, system capacity, installation environment, and local regulations. System design should follow the battery and UPS manufacturers' requirements and applicable electrical and fire-safety standards.
