The BEST Autumn 2025 is out now, packed with fresh editorial and expert analysis for professionals across the battery and energy storage sectors.
From the editor
In brighter news, one of my highlights from the past few months was attending the Asian Battery Conference for the first time. The setting – Kota Kinabalu in Borneo – was stunning. The conference sessions offered genuinely valuable insights and I met some fascinating people at the exhibition and networking events. You can read more in our event overview on page 16.
In September, a fire erupted at a data centre in Daejeon, South Korea, disrupting hundreds of online government services. Preliminary reports suggest the blaze was likely sparked by a battery explosion that led to thermal runaway. Although investigations are still underway, the incident underscores the increasing risks tied to large-scale battery deployments in critical infrastructure, especially as data centres grow more dependent on energy storage systems to balance power demands and integrate renewable sources.
This issue features an in-depth exploration of thermal runaway and the shifting safety landscape surrounding battery energy storage systems. We present expert insights from industry leaders, including an analysis of the Swiss Cheese Model of Safety and its multi-layered strategy for fire prevention and suppression, a review of large-scale fire testing as a method for validating non-propagation approaches, and a spotlight on cell-level safety innovation from 24M, whose Impervio separator is designed to prevent dendrite formation and enable early fault detection.
Our other main feature this issue focuses on recycling, including an overview of the lead recycling industry in India, an article by Proses Makina exploring how recovery technologies are reshaping the circular battery economy, and a contribution from Fortum Battery Recycling.
Other topics covered in BEST Autumn 2025 include antimony, formation, LMFP, patents, rail, and sodium. I hope you enjoy the read – and if you have any feedback or a story to share, please feel free to email me at carly@bestmag.co.uk.
Until next time!
Carly
