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VR Training for BESS Thermal Runaway: Preparing Teams Before a Battery Emergency
Relevant case studies
Author: Spark Team
VR Training for BESS Thermal Runaway: Preparing Teams Before a Battery Emergency
Thermal runaway is one of the most important emergency scenarios for Battery Energy Storage System operators to understand. Bespoke Virtual Reality training can allow engineers, technicians and emergency teams to rehearse recognition, isolation, evacuation and escalation procedures before they ever encounter the situation on a live site, while Augmented Reality can provide controlled access to relevant procedures and asset information during real-world work.
Battery Energy Storage Systems are becoming increasingly important to modern electricity networks. Global battery storage deployment reached 108 GW of new capacity during 2025, approximately 40% more than in 2024, with utility-scale systems accounting for most additions. As the installed base expands, organisations also need scalable ways of developing the workforce responsible for operating and maintaining these assets.
Why Thermal Runaway Training Matters for BESS Operators
Thermal runaway describes a condition in which heat generated inside a battery cell initiates reactions that cause further increases in temperature. In lithium-ion systems, a failure beginning in an individual cell can potentially propagate through adjacent cells and create additional hazards involving heat, gases, fire and electrical equipment. UK Government guidance consequently treats thermal runaway, fire, explosion and hazardous gases as important considerations within grid-scale electrical energy storage safety.
The challenge for training teams is obvious: deliberately recreating a serious battery incident at a live BESS site simply to train employees would be impractical and potentially dangerous.
VR provides another option.
Recreating Thermal Runaway Safely in Virtual Reality
A bespoke Spark VR training application could recreate the client's actual BESS layout, battery containers, switchgear, access routes, emergency equipment and control interfaces within an interactive digital environment.
Rather than simply watching an emergency video, trainees could be required to make decisions.
Identify abnormal indications from a battery management system or local alarm.
Recognise the signs associated with a developing battery event.
Follow the organisation's approved escalation procedure.
Identify electrical isolation points where appropriate to their role.
Establish the required exclusion zone.
Select the correct evacuation route.
Communicate accurate information to control-room personnel or emergency responders.
Complete the scenario without entering prohibited areas.
Every action can be assessed against the client's own Standard Operating Procedures rather than against a generic training script.
Training Decisions, Not Just Button Presses
A particularly valuable aspect of immersive training is the ability to introduce uncertainty.
For example, an apparently minor temperature warning could develop into escalating alarms. Smoke or vapour might appear around a container. A trainee might be presented with several possible actions, some appropriate and others deliberately incorrect.
The system can record whether the user recognised the problem, selected the right procedure and acted in the correct sequence.
VR Training Before the Job
VR is particularly well suited to preparation because the learner can practise a procedure repeatedly without occupying operational plant.
New employees can become familiar with the BESS site before arriving.
Contractors can rehearse location-specific access procedures.
Operators can revisit low-frequency emergency procedures.
Teams can practise coordinated responses.
Supervisors can identify procedural knowledge gaps before workers enter the operational environment.
This turns training from passive awareness into practical rehearsal.
AR Guidance During BESS Operations
Augmented Reality can complement VR once personnel are working on the actual asset.
Using an appropriate AR headset, tablet or mobile device, an authorised technician could identify equipment and access contextual information linked to the physical asset.
Depending on the client's procedures and systems integration requirements, bespoke AR functionality could include:
equipment identification;
inspection sequences;
approved SOP information;
visualisation of isolation boundaries;
maintenance instructions;
inspection records;
remote expert assistance;
confirmation of completed procedural stages.
The objective is not to encourage personnel to rely blindly on digital instructions. AR should support the organisation's authorised procedures, competency framework and permit systems.
Supporting Emergency Response Planning
Fire and Rescue Service guidance for BESS sites highlights the importance of emergency response planning covering electrical isolation, battery cooling or extinguishing strategies, hazardous gases, environmental consequences, damaged batteries and regular onsite training exercises.
A site-specific VR simulation can make those plans easier to understand.
Instead of explaining an emergency plan solely through diagrams, teams can virtually walk access routes, identify water supplies, locate isolation equipment and rehearse communication procedures.
Reducing the Cost of Training and Mistakes
The potential business case extends beyond safety.
Traditional plant training can require access to equipment, instructor time, travel, operational coordination and potentially temporary restrictions around working assets. VR can move some of that familiarisation and procedural rehearsal into a repeatable simulation.
Organisations can consequently use immersive training to pursue:
reduced reliance on live equipment for introductory training;
more consistent delivery across multiple sites;
earlier identification of mistakes;
repeatable competency assessment;
greater familiarity with rare emergency procedures;
reduced time spent explaining basic site layouts during operational visits.
Bespoke BESS VR Training from Spark
Spark does not offer an off-the-shelf thermal runaway training package. Every solution is developed around the client's actual requirements.
That may involve recreating a specific battery container, PCS arrangement, substation, emergency plan, control interface or Standard Operating Procedure. The objective is to create training that reflects how the client's personnel actually work.
Conclusion
Thermal runaway is exactly the type of high-consequence, low-frequency event where immersive rehearsal can provide value. VR allows teams to practise recognition and response before facing an operational emergency, while AR can support approved procedures when technicians are carrying out work in the field.
For BESS owners, EPC contractors and operators, the result can be a more competent workforce, more consistent SOP execution and fewer mistakes around increasingly complex energy infrastructure.
To discuss a bespoke VR or AR training application for your Battery Energy Storage System, contact Spark Emerging Technologies.
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