kenneth6140
Member
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
In a closed room/container etc, do you need a firewall between 600kW batteries or some other specific amount of stored battery power?
Firewall & Batteries
- Thread starter kenneth6140
- Start date
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
That is not covered by the NEC. There are are some requirements in NFPA 855, and some building codes have requirements related to this.
OP didn't limit his question to the NEC.
kenneth6140
Member
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
Thank you for this document. Seems like there does not have to be a firewall inside shipping containers converted to battery storage units.
jaggedben
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern California
- Occupation
- Solar and Energy Storage Installer
Yes there is likely no specific requirement for a firewall in that situation. However there is likely a requirement for large scale fire testing (UL9450A) and fire department review and approval for such an installation. Unless you're state is behind on adopting the latest ICC or NFPA code related to this.
The 2024 IFC section on energy storage systems can be found here.
CHAPTER 12 ENERGY SYSTEMS - 2024 INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE (IFC)
ICC Digital Codes is the largest provider of model codes, custom codes and standards used worldwide to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.
codes.iccsafe.org
There is a table for threshold capacities for when that code applies, depending on technology. For example for lithium ion batteries it is 20kWh. (For residential installations the resi code may apply instead, but I gather that's not what you're dealing with.)
Not that I know if your jurisdiction has adopted the 2024 IFC.