A fire at Vistra Corporation’s Moss Landing Power Plant in the USA, which burned for five days and destroyed around 80% of the batteries inside the building, could result in a potential $500m insurance loss.

London based Travelers and AIG, in the US, led the placements for the primary layer of Vistra Corp’s energy property cover at the Moss Landing facility in Monterey, one of the world’s largest battery storage facilities.

The Insurer reported the primary placement features a $50m sub limit related to battery storage systems (BESS) losses. Marine and energy market sources say the BESS sub limit is supported by two standalone excess placements, the first at $150m xs $50m and the second at $300m xs $200m. Axis has a 10 per cent share of the second excess and in the event of a full loss Axis would  face a gross insurance loss of $30m.

 Vistra is understood to have  previously faced a number of insurers losses at the Moss Landing site including a loss in excess of $240m due to a wrong configured fire suppression system in 2021 and a $16m loss at a separate facility at the site in January 2022. AIG and Axis did not comment on the reports.

The fire at the plant, a 300-megawatt lithium storage facility, destroyed most of the building. The storage facility is a part of a natural gas-powered electricity plant operated by Vistra Energy, a Texas company. The facility also has a battery storage station owned by PG&E.

The fire, earlier this month, was the fourth at Moss Landing since 2019, and the third at buildings owned by Vistra Energy. Vistra has promised an internal investigation into the incident, and to conduct soil testing and fully cooperate with any state or local investigations.

During an emergency briefing after the fire broke out, officials said a plume released from the plant contained hydrogen fluoride, a toxic compound, according to county spokesperson Nick Pasculli.

However, initial testing from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled the levels of toxic gases released by the batteries, including hydrogen fluoride, did not pose a threat to public health during the fire. The fire forced the evacuation of 1,200 residents before it burned itself out and the cause is still under investigation.

The fire has prompted calls for additional safety regulations around battery storage, and more local control over where storage sites are located. Officials are also demanding that Moss Landing remain offline until an investigation can be completed and major safety improvements implemented.

Vistra has not yet released any statement on potential financial impact from the fire or any timeline on recovery efforts.

W Denis are able to arrange property, casualty and all other lines of commercial insurance throughout the world.  For more information please contact Mark Dutton at [email protected] or on 0044 (0) 7831 366 469.

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