RedEarth Energy Storage (RedEarth) has completed assisting LG Energy Solution’s (LG) ESS Battery Division with its battery replacement program following its recall of LG batteries over the last two years.
The voluntary recall was issued by LG due to overheating of batteries manufactured between April 2017 and September 2018; a small number of these LG batteries were used in RedEarth’s early energy storage systems.
“We identified approximately 60 customers who had LG batteries in their systems, and over the last two years we contacted them to advise them of the recall,” said RedEarth Chief Commercial Officer Scott Andrews.
“LG’s representatives worked with our customers to replace their batteries – at no charge to the customer – with either new LG ones, or with RedEarth’s own CEC certified LFP battery, Troppo.”
Mr Andrews said that customers had been kept safe with identified batteries being disabled before they could be physically replaced.
“Customers also received compensation for the number of days without a battery,” he said.
Mr Andrews also noted the latest recall media release issued by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission on 21 November 2022, which stated the ACCC would be contacting around 5,000 potentially affected households directly, also said that the recalled batteries may have been branded with the name of the energy storage system supplier.
“RedEarth does not brand another company’s battery as its own,” he said.
“We ceased using LG batteries some years ago, and while some RedEarth systems may use batteries made by other companies, most RedEarth systems now use RedEarth’s proprietary Troppo battery, which gives us greater monitoring capability to ensure safety and performance. The Troppo battery has not been recalled.”
Mr Andrews said RedEarth was satisfied with LG’s proactive approach to its recall and most importantly is satisfied that its customers and their investments had been well treated and well served. RedEarth has not, thus far been contacted at any time by the ACCC regarding LG’s recall.
RedEarth’s Troppo battery, launched in 2021, uses one of the safest, most stable chemistries available, lithium iron phosphate (LFP). It is the first Australian-made and owned battery approved by the Clean Energy Council, conforms to the industry’s Best Practice Guide regarding safety of energy storage systems, and was created in 2019 by RedEarth’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Chris Winter.
Designed with installers and end-customers in mind, each Troppo includes a self-managed battery management system (BMS) which monitors the battery’s operations, performance, and temperature to ensure safe and optimal performance.
Interviews with RedEarth CCO Scott Andrews are available on request.
For media enquiries please contact : Kiren Thandi | kiren@ww2.redearth.energy | 0480 394 461