Full review of Utilities and fuel distribution and storage guidance

Date: 22/09/2026

Product type: Operational Guidance

Product area: Utilities and fuel

Link: Utilities and fuel distribution and storage – G

On the 16th July Operational Preparedness, Response and Resilience committee approved the completed review of the “Utilities and fuel guidance”.

The guidance has now been extensively updated, the review included.

Retitle ‘Utilities and fuel’ guidance to ‘Utilities and fuel distribution and storage’ guidance – Clarification that this section of the Operational Guidance does not apply to fuel in modes of transport

Incorporate essential content from the Utilities and fuel supplementary information publication into the Operational Guidance- To deliver the full suite of content relating to utilities and fuel distribution and storage in one location

New hazards and control measures introduced for:

  • Electric vehicle charging
  • Grid scale battery energy storage systems
  • Plugin – solar panels within the Solar photovoltaic system hazard

To provide guidance for this new technology, previously not included in the guidance and to incorporate the NFCC guidance on Grid scale battery energy storage systems

Replace the single hazard for Electricity with separate hazards for:

  • High-voltage electricity
  • Low-voltage electricity

The control measures for each hazard are very different, so this restructure supports this approach

  • Restructure of guidance for gas and petrochemical to split the content into:
  • Production, storage and distribution of gas
  • Production and storage of petrochemicals
  • Failure of gas or petrochemical pipelines
  • Gas or fuel oil supplies to consumers

The control measures for each hazard are very different, so this restructure supports this approach

Operational Guidance: Firefighting – addition of new hazards and control measures for:

  • Fires in electrical substations
  • Fires in battery energy storage systems
  • Corporate guidance for operational activity: Hazard – Ineffective organisational manageme
  • Control Measure – Site-Specific Risk Information
  • Operational Guidance: Operations – addition of new hazard and control measures for: Cables

 

Links