Fire risk assessment and cable selection for enduser substations

This paper examines the issues related to fire risk assessment in end-users substations. Fires in substations may be caused by electrical faults, overvoltages, lack of maintenance, etc. It is crucial that fires be confined within the substation, and not propagate into the adjacent environment, where their effects may put at risk personnel, as well as other properties. To reduce this risk of propagation, the choice of cables and the related wiring methods are crucial; in addition, the characteristics of cable chases that route cables from the substation to adjacent rooms is very important. IEEE and IEC fire protection standards for end-user substations are herein discussed, with emphasis on the criteria used to properly select cables for their specific conditions of use and to limit the risk of fires.