I. Standards
What to look for in standards.
Regarding standard practices, the standards are viewed as follows: GB/T 42288 — *People’s Daily* (National standard GB/T 42288-2022 “Safety Code for Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations” in the energy storage sector was officially released by the Standardization Administration of the State Administration for Market Regulation; it takes effect on July 1, 2023, and sets clear safety requirements primarily regarding the operation, maintenance, inspection, testing, and emergency response for the equipment and facilities of energy storage power stations); GB 51048 — China Academy of Building Research (Standard for Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations GB/T 51048-2025; covers general provisions, terminology, basic requirements, site selection, site planning and general layout, and grid connection systems); GB/T 44026 — Zhejiang Provincial Government (Technical Guidelines for Fire Protection of Micro-Prefabricated Container-type Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations in Wenzhou City; must comply with GB 51048, GB/T 42288, and GB/T 44026 “Technical Specifications for Prefabricated Container-type Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems”); GB 50016 — Zhejiang Provincial Government (Fire safety requirements for micro-prefabricated containers must comply with GB 50016 “Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings”); DB4403/T — Shenzhen Government Online (Safety Assessment Specifications for Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems DB4403/T 539—2024; configuration of station power supplies, DC systems, and AC uninterruptible power supply systems must meet GB 51048 requirements; video surveillance and security systems should be installed); DB37/T — Local Standard Information Service Platform (Design Specifications for Prefabricated Container-type Energy Storage Power Stations DB37/T 4733—2024; safety of electric energy storage systems must comply with GB/T 42288) — Overview of six standards: GB/T
42288, GB 51048, GB/T 44026, GB 50016, DB4403/T, DB37/T—six aspects to check for standards compliance.
II.
Specifications
What to look for regarding specifications.
Regarding regulatory practices, the standards cover six key aspects: **Access Lanes** (Shandong Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: Fire lanes must be provided for energy storage stations; dead-end fire lanes require a turnaround area; layout must comply with the *Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings* [GB 50016]); **Loop Layout** (Shandong Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: Loop fire lanes are required for high-rise factory buildings or lithium-ion battery factory buildings with a footprint exceeding 3,000 m² within the station; if a full loop is impractical, fire lanes must be provided along at least two long sides of the building); **Class B Hazard** (Zhejiang Provincial Government: *Guidelines for Fire Protection Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage Stations in Hangzhou*—lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery factory buildings and prefabricated units must be classified as no lower than Class B hazard; areas posing an explosion risk must be classified as Class A); **Class D Hazard** (Zhejiang Provincial Government: Lead-acid/lead-carbon and flow battery factory buildings and prefabricated units are classified as Class D hazard); **Flow Rate** (Engineering Construction Standardization Information Network: Increase design flow rates and fire duration standards for fire hydrant systems; mandate automatic fire extinguishing systems for lithium-ion battery rooms and prefabricated units; implement linked control between fire alarm and ventilation systems); and **Materials** (China Academy of Building Research: Components such as battery module casings, connectors, data acquisition and control harnesses, and power cables must utilize flame-retardant materials). These six aspects ensure comprehensive compliance with the standards.
III.
Alarms
What to look for regarding alarm systems.
Regarding alarm systems, the assessment covers six aspects: Automation—GB/T 42288 (electrochemical energy storage stations must be equipped with automatic fire alarm systems; system design must comply with GB 50116; fire alarm controllers must comply with GB 4717 and GB/T 42288); Coordination—National Fire and Rescue Administration (requirements for fire monitoring and early warning systems in electrochemical energy storage stations must align with GB 50116 [design], GB 50166 [installation and acceptance], GB/T 42288-2022, and GB 51048); Linkage—Local Standard Information Service Platform (automatic fire alarm systems must possess linkage functions or achieve them via the battery management system; linkage control signals must include the immediate cutoff of power circuits for all affected battery clusters and the shutdown of supply/exhaust fans and dampers in the protected area); Detection—National Fire and Rescue Administration (my country has issued standards GB/T 42288-2022 and GB 51048, mandating the installation of fire detection and alarm systems in electrochemical energy storage stations); Self-test—National Fire and Rescue Administration (self-test requirements dictate that control devices must allow for manual checking of all panel indicator lights); Early Warning—Engineering Construction Standardization Information Network (implementation of linkage control between fire alarms and ventilation systems)—The six aspects of alarm assessment are: automation, coordination, linkage, detection, self-test, and early warning; addressing these six ensures the alarm system is fully compliant and effective.
IV.
Fire Extinguishing
What to look for regarding fire extinguishing.
Regarding fire suppression practices, consider the following six aspects: Automatic systems—Tianjin Fire Research Institute (GB/T 42288-2022 stipulates that battery rooms/compartments must be equipped with automatic fire suppression systems; the minimum protection unit for lithium-ion battery room/compartment systems should ideally be the battery module; each module may be individually configured with fire suppression nozzles or fire detection tubes); Suppression agents—Tianjin Fire Research Institute (agents must possess good electrical insulation and cooling properties; technical parameters must be verified through module-level physical fire simulation tests conducted by qualified institutions); Water-based systems—T/CECS (battery modules, clusters, and prefabricated compartments in energy storage stations must feature technical measures capable of extinguishing fires and cooling within 10 minutes; water-based systems must be configured to activate automatically upon receiving a trigger signal and continue operation until the batteries are submerged); Gas systems—T/CECS (design quantities for suppression or inerting, as well as agent storage volumes for electrical and control compartments, should reference standards for gas-based fire suppression); Perfluorohexanone—Local Standard Information Service Platform (automatic suppression systems using clean, eco-friendly agents with insulation and cooling properties may be used for lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery fires, provided they cause no harm to personnel or equipment upon discharge; systems must comply with GB 25972, GB 50116, and GB 50370; those using perfluorohexanone must comply with DB37/T 3642); Water mist—Local Standard Information Service Platform (other automatic suppression systems capable of cooling and extinguishing fires without causing electrical short circuits, such as high-pressure water mist, may also be used). These six aspects—automatic systems, suppression agents, water-based systems, gas systems, perfluorohexanone, and water mist—ensure comprehensive fire suppression coverage.
V.
Certification
What to look for in certification.
Regarding certification practices, consider these six aspects: UL 9540A—UL Solutions (UL 9540A is the US and Canadian national standard for evaluating fire propagation associated with thermal runaway events in battery energy storage systems; testing to this standard is crucial for ensuring system safety); NFPA 855—UL Solutions (The 2023 edition of NFPA 855 and the 2024 edition of the International Fire Code both mandate fire and explosion testing under specific conditions; such tests must be conducted on representative ESS units as required by UL 9540A); Database—UL Solutions (UL offers a free online database for customers and suppliers to search for manufacturers that have completed testing according to the ANSI/CAN/UL 9540A standard); Extreme—Tesla (Tests subject the ESS to extreme abuse conditions to evaluate fire and explosion hazards; test data is used to demonstrate ESS performance when seeking exceptions under existing fire codes); 6th Edition—UL Solutions (Based on the ANSI/CAN/UL 9540A 6th Edition test method for evaluating thermal runaway fire propagation in ESS, the new standard introduces further refinements); Safety Assessment—UL Standards (Standards such as UL 9540 specify requirements for safe installation, maintenance, testing, and safety assessment of ESS; they address specific hazards like explosion control and thermal runaway, and include warning systems that alert operators to potential safety issues in advance)—Six key aspects of certification: UL 9540A, NFPA 855, Database, Extreme conditions, 6th Edition, and Safety assessment;
a comprehensive view of certification requirements.
Conclusion
Regarding certification requirements for ESS fire protection systems, the conclusion is that these requirements should be viewed through five key stages: standards, codes, alarms, fire suppression, and certification.
Standards—*People’s Daily* (GB/T 42288-2022 Safety Code for Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations, effective July 1, 2023), China Academy of Building Research (GB/T 51048-2025 Standard for Design of Electrochemical Energy Storage Power Stations), Zhejiang Provincial Government (GB/T 44026 Technical Specifications for Prefabricated Container-type Lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems; GB 50016 Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings), Shenzhen Government Online (DB4403/T 539—2024 Station Power Supply Requirements compliant with GB 51048), Local Standard Information Service Platform (DB37/T 4733—2024 Design Code for Prefabricated Container-type Energy Storage Power Stations); Specifications—Shandong Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (Fire lanes for energy storage stations must include turnaround areas at dead ends; loop fire lanes required for lithium-ion battery manufacturing plants exceeding 3,000 m²), Zhejiang Provincial Government (Fire hazard classification for prefabricated containers in lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery plants must be no lower than Class B; Class D for lead-acid, lead-carbon, and flow battery plants), Engineering Construction Standardization Information Network (Increased design flow rate for fire hydrants; mandatory automatic fire extinguishing systems), China Academy of Building Research (Flame-retardant materials required for battery module casings, wiring harnesses, and cables); Alarms—GB/T 42288 (Design of automatic fire alarm systems must comply with GB 50116), National Fire and Rescue Administration (Monitoring and early warning systems… GB 50116…)
50166 (coordination and unification; National Fire and Rescue Administration), Local Standard Information Service Platform (linkage control to cut off battery cluster power circuits and shut down supply/exhaust fans), National Fire and Rescue Administration (GB/T 42288 and GB 51048 requirements for fire detection and alarm), National Fire and Rescue Administration (manual check of indicator lights via self-test function), Engineering Construction Standardization Information Network (linkage between fire alarms and ventilation); Fire Suppression—Tianjin Fire Research Institute (automatic fire suppression systems for battery rooms/compartments; battery modules as minimum protection units), Tianjin Fire Research Institute (module-level physical fire simulation verification regarding extinguishing media insulation and cooling), T/CECS (water-based fire suppression involving battery submersion for cooling and extinguishing within 10 minutes), T/CECS (gas-based fire suppression for electrical and control compartments), Local Standard Information Service Platform (perfluorohexanone: insulating, cooling, clean, and eco-friendly), Local Standard Information Service Platform (high-pressure water mist: no electrical short circuits); Certification—UL Solutions (UL 9540A: US/Canada national standard for evaluating thermal runaway fire propagation), UL Solutions (fire and explosion testing requirements per NFPA 855 and international fire codes), UL Solutions (UL 9540A database search for manufacturers with completed testing), Tesla (evaluation of fire and explosion hazard characteristics under extreme abuse conditions), UL Solutions (ANSI/CAN/UL 9540A Edition 6), UL Standards (UL 9540: safety assessment covering installation, maintenance, and testing).
In line with industry practice, here is the bottom line on energy storage fire safety: refer to GB/T 42288 for standards; focus on fire separation distances and access lanes for specifications; consult GB 50116 for alarm systems; prioritize module-level automatic suppression for fire extinguishing; and look to UL 9540A for certification.
Clear these five hurdles, and your energy storage fire safety is assured.
