Industrial fire safety insight
The energy transition is also a fire safety transition
Hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, battery storage and electrification are reshaping industrial ports. Their successful introduction depends on fire safety becoming part of the transition from the beginning.
Energy transition safety · Industrial ports · Alternative fuels
An SFPE Benelux perspective on the changing industrial risk landscape
The key transition
New energy systems require new safety strategies
Fire safety must influence infrastructure concepts from the beginning, not be added after fundamental design decisions have already been made.
New energy carriers
Hydrogen, ammonia and methanol
Energy storage
Batteries, electrification and thermal runaway
Port interfaces
Old and new infrastructure operating together
Safe transition
Safety integrated from the concept stage
The energy transition is usually discussed in terms of carbon emissions, infrastructure, investment and energy security. At exactly the same time, however, another transformation is taking place: a fire safety transition.
Hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, battery storage, electrification and circular feedstocks are entering industrial environments traditionally built around fossil fuels. For industrial ports in particular, this creates an entirely new risk landscape and makes energy transition fire safety a strategic priority.
How is the energy transition changing industrial fire safety?
New energy carriers do not simply replace oil and natural gas on a one-for-one basis. They have different physical and chemical properties, which create different requirements for prevention, detection, protection and emergency response.
Hydrogen behaves differently from conventional fuels and requires careful consideration of leakage, ignition and dispersion. Ammonia adds significant toxicity considerations. Large-scale battery systems introduce challenges associated with thermal runaway, re-ignition and potentially prolonged incidents.
This does not make these technologies inherently unacceptable. It means their risks must be understood and managed on their own terms rather than through assumptions inherited from conventional fuels.
The energy transition does not introduce one new fire risk. It creates a changing combination of fuels, technologies, infrastructure and operational dependencies.
Why are ports particularly important?
Major ports concentrate energy production, storage, transport, chemical industries and logistics within closely connected areas. A change in one system can therefore affect installations, organisations and infrastructure far beyond its immediate boundary.
Rotterdam illustrates the scale of this transformation. The Port of Rotterdam is working on more than 80 projects associated with its transition towards a carbon-neutral and circular port. New energy infrastructure, fuels and industrial processes will increasingly coexist with existing installations—and that coexistence may be one of the transition’s most demanding safety challenges.
The key challenge: coexistence
For many years, conventional hydrocarbons will coexist with hydrogen, ammonia, batteries, electrification and other technologies. Safety strategies must account for the interfaces between old and new systems throughout this transition period.
What happens when old and new energy systems coexist?
The energy transition will not happen overnight. Existing installations will be modified, new pipelines and terminals will be constructed, and new logistics chains will intersect with established infrastructure. Different organisations will also progress at different speeds.
These interfaces deserve particular attention because risk frequently emerges where systems, technologies, responsibilities or organisations meet. A safe design must consider not only individual assets but also their dependencies and combined failure scenarios.
Can fire safety keep pace with the energy transition?
It must. Safety cannot be added after an energy project has already been designed. Fire safety engineers, operators, authorities, insurers and emergency services need to participate while infrastructure concepts are still being developed.
Early involvement allows fundamental questions about prevention, protection, maintainability and emergency response to influence the design instead of constraining it afterwards.
A safe transition is a successful transition
The energy transition is one of the largest industrial transformations Europe has undertaken. Its success will be measured through renewable energy capacity, emissions reductions and energy security, but resilience should be part of that assessment as well.
New energy infrastructure must not only be sustainable and economically viable. It must be safe to build, operate, maintain and respond to when something goes wrong.
In this article
- New fuels and different hazards
- The strategic role of industrial ports
- Coexistence of old and new systems
- Early fire safety involvement
- Resilient energy infrastructure
Conference session
Challenges of a Port in Transition
Alan Dirks
Port of Rotterdam Authority
SFPE Benelux Conference on Industrial Fire Safety
Challenges of a Port in Transition
Alan Dirks of the Port of Rotterdam Authority will explore how critical energy infrastructure can be transformed at unprecedented scale without allowing safety to follow behind.
A safe transition is a successful transition.
Frequently asked questions
How does the energy transition affect fire safety?
The transition introduces fuels, storage systems and infrastructure with different fire, explosion and toxicity characteristics. These technologies also need to coexist with existing industrial installations.
What are the main fire safety risks of hydrogen and ammonia?
Hydrogen requires specific attention to leakage, dispersion and ignition. Ammonia presents additional toxicity risks. Safe application depends on the installation, quantities, operating conditions and protection strategy.
Why should fire safety engineers be involved early?
Early involvement allows prevention, protection, maintenance and emergency-response requirements to influence fundamental infrastructure and process decisions before the design becomes difficult or costly to change.