Page | 008 Site Conditions
Sites should be maintained in order that, in the event of fire, the risk of propagation between units is reduced. This will include ensuring that combustibles are not stored adjacent to units and access is clear and maintained. Areas within 10 metres of BESS units should be cleared of combustible vegetation and any other vegetation on site should be kept in a condition such that they do not increase the risk of fire on site. Areas with wildfire risk or vegetation that would result in significant size fires should be factored into this assessment and additional cleared distances maintained as required.
Water Supplies
Water supplies will depend on the size of the installation. In the majority of cases, initial firefighting intervention will focus on defensive firefighting measures to prevent fire spread to adjacent containers. As a result, proposals for water supplies on site should be developed following liaison with the local fire and rescue service taking into account the likely flow rates required to achieve tactical priorities. This should also take account of the ability of/anticipated time for the fire and rescue service to bring larger volumes of water to site (for example through the provision of High Volume Pumps).
IP ratings of units should be known so that risks associated with boundary cooling can be understood.
As a minimum, it is recommended that hydrant supplies for boundary cooling purposes should be located close to BESS containers (but considering safe access in the event of a fire) and should be capable of delivering no less than 1,900 litres per minute for at least 2 hours. Fire and rescue services may wish to increase this requirement dependant on location and their ability to bring supplementary supplies to site in a timely fashion.
Water supply for any automatic suppression system will be covered by the relevant standard/design depending on which system chosen as appropriate for the risk. For manual water, amounts should come from performance based requirement rather than a reference to a code, unless it can be proven that the code specifically covers BESS. Regarding water storage tanks, volumes will again need to be informed on a performance-based need. Isolation points should be identified.
Any static water storage tanks designed to be used for firefighting must be located at least 10 metres away from any BESS container/cabinet. They must be clearly marked with appropriate signage. They must be easily accessible to FRS vehicles and their siting should be considered as part of a risk assessed approach that considers potential fire development/impacts. Outlets and connections should be agreed with the local FRS. Any outlets and hard suction points should be protected from mechanical damage (e.g. through use of bollards).
Consideration should be given, within the site design, to the management of water run-off (e.g. drainage systems, interceptors, bunded lagoons etc).
Page 8 of 10 Version 1.0 November 2022
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