Marioff HI-FOG selected to protect electric substations from fire
ENEL Brasil, The Alphaville Electrical Substation, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Enel SpA is an Italian company operating in the generation and distribution of electricity and distribution of natural gas. Enel Brasil, established in 2005, is the largest private company in the electricity sector within Brazil, serving more than 7 million customers in the São Paulo metropolitan area.
The electrical substation in São Paolo’s densely inhabited Alphaville development was in critical need of a fire detection and suppression system. Both reliable operation and instant activation were critical to safeguard the surrounding residents and property.
The site consisted of four transformers and one panel room, with each transformer housing consisting of 900m3 of volume. With very limited space and no extra power to feed an electrical pump, ENEL sought a compact fire protection solution that could operate independently from the property's electricity.
ENEL chose the HI-FOG® Gas Pump Unit (GPU). The GPU requires a significantly smaller water reservoir than a traditional sprinkler system, reducing total size sufficiently to meet ENEL’s space limitations. The GPU requires no electrical power to actuate, and it discharges fine water mist. The system was the first of its kind to be deployed in an electrical substation in the country and led directly to a revision to the state code for substations — cementing ENEL as a forerunner in the safe distribution of electricity within Brazil.
Fingrid Oyj is the enterprise which takes care of the functioning of the nation-wide high-voltage grid, the backbone of electricity transmission. Fingrid transmits electricity continuously from electricity generating companies to distribution network companies and industrial companies. They take care of the cross-border connections and promote the functioning of the electricity market. Tammisto Substation is a key node for Finland’s capital area.
Tammisto substation is trapped between a large hotel to be expanded to the vicinity of the substation, a residential area and one of the busiest intersections on the ring roads in the capital area. The city is growing around the substation that was built decades ago. This brings new risks to be taken into consideration.
HI-FOG system is powered by a MSPU 9 electric pump unit with a fire water tank for 40-minute operation and emergency water feed for firefighters. There was no need to invest in a new water feed line. HI-FOG solution is based on the full-scale fire tests done in Finland in extreme weather conditions. HI-FOG system is equipped with an automatic activation and a remote activation from a Fingrid Oyjʼs control center. Fast activation is a key factor when controlling challenging transformer fires.
Helen Sähköverkko Oy is responsible for electricity transmission and distribution throughout almost the entire Helsinki region. The company is part of the Helen Group, a private utility group. The company’s Suvilahti substation had grown from being just an electrical substation to a multipurpose building housing a sea water pump station, a solar power plant and a data center.
To increase the safety and reliability of the site’s expanded scope, Helen Sähköverkko Oy sought an active fire protection solution whose installation would cause minimal disruption to the site’s diverse operations. Gas systems were ruled out, because they’d require expensive structural changes to the substation.
