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Prepare and plan for electrical power and gas outages

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Dear FM Global Client,

FM Global is contacting clients to offer advice and support as we anticipate
electrical power and gas outages are likely to be a much greater risk than
normal this winter. While this could obviously have a major impact at large
process facilities, it can also present risks to any industrial facility, office
or warehouse. If nothing else, loss of power could leave your building or
facility without heat for several days. That could lead to frozen and burst
water pipes, and resulting liquid damage to air conditioning and fire sprinkler
systems. Preparation and planning will help reduce the likelihood of damage due
to loss of utilities and mitigate the consequences if freeze-up does occur.

Background
Widespread damage due to freezing conditions and consequent power outages in the
U.S. in early 2021 illustrated the vulnerability of buildings, plant and
equipment to cold weather and utility interruptions.

It has been well publicized that gas and electrical power supplies across many
European countries are likely to be stressed this winter. Low water levels in
reservoirs in Norway mean plans are being drawn up to ration hydropower supplied
to other countries. Half of France’s nuclear power plants are likely to be out
of service for maintenance and repairs. There is very little spare capacity in
the U.K. with the shortfall normally made up by importing power from other
countries which might not be available this winter. Germany is very dependent on
Russian gas for power generation. With large-scale energy storage systems not
yet available, wind and solar are vulnerable to weather variations that may
leave us short of power. In addition, many countries are likely to be depending
on elderly and semi-retired conventional and nuclear power stations to make up
shortfalls in capacity. It is not hard to foresee an equipment failure or other
problem preventing one or more of these sites being able to generate power.

A cold period, with low winds across large parts of Europe, further restrictions
on gas supply and perhaps failures at elderly power stations could leave
authorities with no choice but to order the shutdown of energy-intensive
industries or even complete power outages. If electrical power is lost, it is
likely gas supplies will also be interrupted. Even if gas supplies are not
interrupted, gas boiler controls still need electrical power to run so heat may
still be lost.

What to Do
All facilities including offices, warehouses and manufacturing should be doing
some prevention and planning.

Consider the following:
•  What would you do if you had to manage three or four days without
electricity/gas? •  Identify any vulnerable processes or equipment that could
suffer damage if power or gas is lost. •  Almost all sites with potable water,
fire sprinklers, heating, etc. will at least be vulnerable to freezing pipes.
Water leakage may occur when the pipes thaw. Process plants with complex and
varied pipework and equipment, instrument air, trace heating, spoilage risks,
etc. such as chemical and pharmaceutical facilities, heat and power stations,
and pulp and paper mills will need detailed freeze prevention procedures and
freeze emergency plans. The former is covered by FM Global Data Sheet 9-18,
Prevention of Freeze-ups and the latter by Data Sheet 10-1, Pre-Incident and
Emergency Response Planning , sections 2.2.5 and 3.8.

If you have plans to introduce new or alternative energy sources, such as
converting boilers to LPG or oil-fired, please see guidelines on Preparing for
Utility Outages and Alternative Energy Sources.

For less complex facilities, the above Data Sheets are also a guide but as pipe
freeze and water leakage are likely to be the most frequent concern, some simple
measures are:

Freeze Prevention •  Ensure trace heating is working. •  Test heating systems
before the onset of cold weather. •  Ensure emergency generators are fueled and
tested. •  Have alternate sprinkler systems been switched to dry (if not left
dry all year). •  Are portable heaters needed/available and can they be safely
used? Freeze Emergency Planning
Plans should address actions to be taken if loss of building heat occurs or
seems likely during cold weather.

The plan should address the following:
•  Inspect the building envelope and close any openings to the outside. Verify
that all doors, windows, louvres/dampers including inside air handling units, or
any other openings are closed. Consider installing insulating blankets over
louvres and dampers. Open panels to air handling units to delay freezing of
water coils. •  Drain sprinkler piping if a freeze-up of water in the piping is
deemed imminent. Contact FM Global for advice if it appears sprinkler piping may
need to be drained. Minimize time the system is impaired and strictly follow FM
Global Red Tag Permit System impairment procedures. •  Drain potable water
pipework, heating and air conditioning systems as necessary. •  Consider
periodically opening taps or water outlets or leaving them open with a trickle
flow when service water or other water systems cannot be adequately drained but
there is adequate water pressure. If in doubt, contact FM Global for advice.

Resources
Emergency Checklist – Freeze-Up
FM Global Data Sheet 9-18, Prevention of Freeze-ups.
FM Global Data Sheet 10-1, Pre-Incident and Emergency Response Planning,
sections 2.2.5 and 3.8.
FM Global Data Sheet 10-7, Fire Protection Impairment Management.

Data sheets are available at www.fmglobal.com/datasheets



 

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