At Nordic Marine Power, safety is at the core of our design philosophy. We’re proud to announce that our PowerStack battery module has successfully passed one of the industry’s most demanding safety evaluations: the DNV-certified thermal runaway propagation test. (internal test before official test with DNV in June 2025)
Thermal runaway is a critical safety risk in lithium-ion batteries. It refers to the uncontrolled increase in temperature that can occur when a cell is damaged or overcharged. The DNV test examines whether such an event in one cell will propagate to neighboring cells—a key safety criterion for battery systems used in marine applications.
The test was conducted in a controlled 45°C environment. A single cell within a fully charged 1P8S-175Ah battery module was intentionally pushed into thermal runaway through overcharging at 175A (1C) until its internal temperature exceeded 130°C. This triggered the cell’s built-in pressure relief valve and resulted in a release of gas, but—critically—no fire occurre.
After 24 hours, the module was inspected:
No heat propagation: The neighboring cells all remained intact with stable voltages around 3.3V.
No structural deformation: The enclosure and internal components showed no significant changes.
Repeatable performance: The test was performed three times with the same result—thermal runaway was successfully contained to the target cell each time.
This result proves the effectiveness of our multi-layered safety design:
Insulation between cells
Gas release valve on the housing
Carefully engineered module structure to isolate and manage thermal events
These design choices meet the highest safety standards set by DNV and confirm the PowerStack as a reliable choice for marine vessels requiring robust, certified battery technology.
With PowerStack deliveries beginning in June 2025 and our first pilot installation scheduled for September 2025 in Norway, this milestone underscores our commitment to delivering safe, high-performance energy storage solutions for the maritime industry.