Recently, Germany, Poland, Romania, and other countries have focused on optimizing battery thermal runaway protection standards in their energy storage safety regulations, setting higher standards for the impact protection performance of building materials used in factory partitions and energy storage equipment ceilings, and differentiating between explosion-proof walls and explosion-proof firewalls for different scenarios. Traditional brittle fireproof panels are prone to scattering fragments upon impact and are mostly used in pressure relief structures. Steel-cement composite explosion-proof panels, however, use double-layered galvanized steel sheets encasing an inorganic fiber cement core. Impact damage results in only minor, localized damage, reducing the risk of secondary injuries from fragments. This makes them suitable for energy storage compartment partitions and explosion-proof enclosures for equipment rooms. The product's hazardous substance content complies with EU REACH chemical control requirements, and formaldehyde release and radioactivity levels meet EU building material limits. It comes with CE certification under CPR regulations and a third-party fire impact resistance test report, enabling it to participate in bidding for energy storage retrofit projects in multiple countries.
The retrofitting of many older energy storage plants in Europe generally faces challenges such as limited foundation bearing capacity and tight construction schedules. Traditional cast-in-place explosion-proof concrete is too heavy for older building foundations, making it more suitable for heavy-duty firewalls. The steel-cement composite explosion-proof bare panels exhibited here weigh only 36 kg per square meter, allowing for construction on most existing foundations without reinforcement. The panels utilize a modular splicing process, enabling rapid assembly under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. This allows for shorter construction cycles and reduced downtime losses in small-scale retrofit projects. During the exhibition, European general contractors focused on inquiring about thickened explosion-proof and stainless steel corrosion-resistant custom specifications. These products are adaptable to various scenarios, including distributed residential storage compartments and centralized energy storage modules, creating stable procurement demand.
The European market has stringent requirements for export building materials' compliance documentation and full life-cycle technical records. Domestic exhibitors simultaneously improved their CE certification from EU notified bodies and obtained English fire impact testing documents. They also established independent websites and overseas local distribution networks, and launched a flexible small-batch sample supply model to reduce the upfront inventory pressure on overseas distributors. Industry statistics show that in the first half of the year, China's exports of explosion-proof composite panels to Europe and the United States increased by 17.3% year-on-year. With the gradual implementation of energy storage safety transformation policies in various countries, overseas orders are expected to grow steadily in the second half of the year.
Leveraging the complete supporting advantages of China's building materials industry chain, domestically produced steel-cement explosion-proof panels, with their lightweight, easy-to-construct, and cost-effective advantages, are gaining more application opportunities in small and medium-sized existing energy storage transformation projects in Europe, differentiating themselves from local European and American explosion-proof building material brands. Industry insiders say that companies still need to continuously improve their ETA European technology assessment and factory production control documents to match the high standards of large-scale energy storage infrastructure in Europe, and further expand their overseas market reach
