NFPA 855 Energy Storage Security Standard 2026 Released

Recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) launched the 2026 version of the battery energy storage safety standard NFPA 855. The document, known as the installation standard for fixed energy storage systems, mainly stipulates the minimum installation requirements for energy storage in residential, industrial and commercial, and public utilities. This time, it also covers the application scenario of optical storage and charging of electric vehicle charging systems including integrated energy storage, which is updated on a three-year cycle.

The 2026 version of the document has been significantly updated compared to the 2023 version, including new requirements for system safety: new requirements for lithium batteries and non-lithium electrochemical energy storage technologies, such as iron-air batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, hybrid supercapacitors, Zinc bromide batteries, lithium metal batteries, etc. The document puts forward relevant requirements for emergency response, suggestions for thermal runaway diffusion protection, explosion control, backup power supply, fire and explosion testing, etc. In particular, while version 2023 already includes UL9540A thermal runaway diffusion testing, the 2026 version also includes large-scale combustion testing (LSFT), where the entire energy storage unit is deliberately ignited and allowed to burn continuously with all fire suppression equipment disabled, with the aim of re-enacting the harshest conditions in real-world applications.

The recommendations of the standard have been adopted by U.S. state and local jurisdictions (AHJ) and are highly valued by other stakeholders such as financial institutions and insurance companies. Although the standard originated in the United States, many of these points are universal in the deployment and application of energy storage systems, and are often used as best practices in many other countries and regions.

As an energy storage fire fighting enterprise, the release of NFPA 855-2026 is an important industry vane for us. The new standard upgrades the large-scale combustion test (LSFT) from an option to a core requirement , which directly raises the technical threshold of energy storage fire fighting and also makes higher requirements for fire fighting schemes, whether we can handle the most extreme failure scenarios and effectively suppress the spread of fire among multiple battery clusters proves whether our fire protection plan is compliant and reasonable.

At present, the global energy structure is accelerating adjustment, the energy storage market has broad prospects, in the energy storage industry to accelerate the development of the same time, we must adhere to the bottom line of energy storage security. According to incomplete statistics, by May 2025, 167 energy storage safety accidents have occurred worldwide. With the increase of the call frequency of the energy storage system, the security of the energy storage power station is facing a greater test. The standardization and systematization of energy storage safety regulations undoubtedly tighten the safety rope for the development of energy storage industry. In response to the new NFPA 855-2026 regulations, Shengsida fire engineers are designing more accurate fire safety solutions based on its and the latest UL 9540A and other stringent standards to protect energy storage safety with higher standards.