Electric vehicles (EVs) and utility grade energy storage systems (ESS) have ramped up the presence of batteries in institutional and commercial facilities, as well as the number of fire incidents associated with them. Unfortunately, no single standard provides the full spectrum of battery safety requirements.
NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, provides minimum requirements to mitigate risk associated with stationary ESS and the storage of lithium metal or lithium-ion batteries. The standard has become the primary place within the NFPA standards process to raise general battery safety issues, but its scope has grown beyond the initial purpose of NFPA 855 and has identified a gap in guidance for general battery safety throughout the lifecycle of batteries beyond the use in a given installation.
In response, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is considering the development of a comprehensive standard, proposed as NFPA 800, Battery Safety Code, to provide uniform, minimum requirements to address fire, electrical, life safety and property protection from battery hazards. Requirements could include fire, explosion and other dangerous conditions related to battery technologies. NFPA is seeking comments from all interested organizations and individuals to gauge whether support exists for the development of standards to:
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
