FENECON Industrial XL
Fire Protection Information

Installed in the battery area and switch cabinet area:

Installed in the control cabinet area (1 piece):

Installed in the battery area (3 pieces):

A comprehensive risk assessment was carried out for the energy storage system FENECON Industrial XL in order to identify and reduce potential sources of danger.

In Scenario 1 — Fire within the lithium-ion battery storage system (fire or thermal runaway at cell level), fire protection is ensured by design. As a result, preventive and defensive fire protection measures for this risk scenario can be reduced without the need to add external extinguishing agents; intervention by the fire department for active firefighting is not intended. Instead, the affected battery module should react autonomously and return to a non-critical state by itself after around 30 minutes. Consequently, no measures for retaining extinguishing water are required for Scenario 1.

During this thermal process, high temperatures are generated locally, which — depending on how they spread — can also be transferred to the container shell. A significant increase in temperature on the outer wall is therefore possible. Several pressure relief openings are provided in the container ceiling for the controlled discharge of excess pressure and gases. These allow smoke and gas mixtures to escape in a targeted manner. At the time of discharge, the gases have already cooled down significantly and quickly dilute in the ambient air. Critical contamination of adjacent buildings or plant components through toxicity or corrosion — both horizontally and vertically — is therefore not to be expected.

Fire detection is carried out by a fire detection system consisting of optical smoke detectors and CO detectors, which detect both particles and gas emissions at an early stage. If a fire is detected, a pre-alarm is tripped and the affected electrical systems are put into a safety state. If the fire event is confirmed in accordance with the two-detector dependency - i.e. by two independent detectors - the main alarm is tripped by the system.

Even if the activation of the fire suppression system is not planned in Scenario 1, it remains integrated in the system and serves as a redundant safety measure. In exceptional cases, it can support the automated self-protection behavior of the battery. In this case, when the main alarm is triggered, the aerosol fire suppression system is activated automatically after a defined delay of 30 seconds.

In Scenario 2 — a fire affecting a lithium-ion battery energy storage system without defined fire resistance — comprehensive fire protection measures are used. Optical smoke detectors and CO detectors are used for early fire detection, which reliably detect both smoke development and potential gas emissions. In addition, continuous temperature monitoring is carried out directly on the battery cells. If the temperature rises abnormally, the battery contactors are automatically opened to prevent further thermal stress or overloading. The enclosure of the battery system serves as an additional protective measure. It delays the direct impact of the fire on the battery modules and at the same time reduces the thermal energy transferred, slowing down the progression of the fire and minimizing the risk of escalation. If a fire is confirmed, it is first detected by an initial fire detector. This triggers a pre-alarm and initiates an immediate emergency shutdown of the affected electronic components in order to prevent short circuits or overheating as secondary consequences. If the event is verified by a second, independent detector in accordance with the two-detector dependency provided, the main alarm is triggered. With the optional aerosol damping system, the aerosol fire damping system is automatically activated after a defined time delay of 30 seconds in the event of a main alarm. This ensures rapid and targeted containment of the source of the fire inside the container and makes a significant contribution to limiting the damage. The fire suppression system can also be activated manually via an activation switch attached to the outside of the container. In the event of manual activation, the status of the main alarm is immediately switched.

In Scenario 3, a fire affects the secondary electronics without classified fire resistance. The same measures apply here as in Scenario 2, including detection by optical smoke detectors and CO detectors as well as emergency shutdown of the affected electronics and, if necessary, activation of the automatic aerosol insulation system. In addition, fire development can be contained by the switch cabinet housing and the electronic enclosures for the FEMS2Battery (F2B) and high-voltage 800 boxes (HV800 box), which delay the spread of the fire and limit damage.

In Scenario 4, a fire occurs outside the battery energy storage system container, which heats up the container shell and could potentially spread to the inverters and the air conditioning unit, which are located outside the container. As the air conditioning unit does not use flammable coolants, it does not pose a fire hazard itself, but its function could be impaired by the effects of heat. The container shell serves as a protective barrier to prevent direct fire exposure to the battery modules and to ensure the safety of the system. In addition, an appropriate safety distance from potential sources of fire is recommended in order to minimize the effect of heat on the container shell.