BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- From 3 to 5 November, Fira de Barcelona will host a new edition of Tomorrow.Blue Economy World Congress (TBEWC), the leading international event focused on the blue economy. Over the course of three days, the gathering will bring together representatives from major city ports, public administrations, international organisations, research centres, companies and startups at the Gran Via venue to discuss strategies for turning the oceans into one of the key drivers of sustainable economic development in the coming decades.
To unlock the full potential of the blue economy, TBEWC will feature conferences from some of the world's leading experts including Allyson Beach, Blue Acceleration Adviser at the World Ocean Council; Chris Ninnes, CEO of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council; and Emma Cobos, Director of Innovation and Blue Economy at the Port de Barcelona.
The conferences will be distributed across three programmes: Smart Ports: Piers of the Future, Global Blue Finance Summit, and Sustainable Ocean Summit. Smart Ports will bring together ports, startups, companies, and investors with the goal of addressing the real challenges facing the port and maritime sector and promoting the development of innovative solutions.
The Global Blue Finance Summit and the Sustainable Ocean Summit, both organised by the World Ocean Council (WOC), will provide a platform to connect investors with scalable blue economy opportunities, and a forum where businesses, experts and governments can drive solutions to accelerate the deployment of the blue economy and the protection of the oceans, respectively.
Barcelona City Council, through Barcelona Activa, will organise a range of activities under the city's new Blue Economy Strategy. The programme will focus on fostering open innovation by connecting corporations and startups, exploring emerging skills and training trends across the sector, and facilitating connections between talent and companies.
The event will also feature a startup area, the Ocean Innovation Hub, where emerging companies from around the world specialising in the blue economy will showcase their projects. The space will be managed by Oceanovation, a partner of the WOC.
TBEWC is organised with the support of Barcelona City Council, through Barcelona Activa; the Port of Barcelona; the World Ocean Council (WOC); Oceanovation; and Smart Ports: Piers of the Future, an initiative of the Port Authority of Barcelona; and is held alongside Smart City Expo World Congress, Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Barcelona Deep Tech Summit; and the Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress.
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Tomorrow.Blue Economy 2026 charts a strategic course for the Blue Economy
Dr. Drew Feng shares findings showing no propagation to adjacent modules or cabinets, with no sprinkler activation during the test.
SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ampace, a provider of advanced lithium-ion energy storage solutions, today presented results from a large-scale fire test (LSFT) of its PU100 UPS battery system at Data Centre World Asia 2026. In a conference presentation titled "LSFT for UPS Battery System: Last Key Piece toward Ultimate Safety," Dr. Drew Feng examined evolving fire safety requirements and shared findings from Ampace's testing.
Under the tested conditions, thermal runaway remained confined to the initiating module, with no propagation to adjacent modules or target cabinets. No sprinklers activated during the test, the fire self-extinguished after approximately 40 minutes, and no re-ignition was observed during the subsequent 24-hour observation period.
Assessing Safety Beyond the Initiating Module
For data center operators, battery fire safety depends not only on reducing the likelihood of failure, but also on limiting its consequences if thermal runaway occurs. Large-scale fire testing evaluates how an event develops and whether fire spreads to surrounding equipment under defined installation conditions.
Dr. Feng's presentation examined the installation-level LSFT provisions in the sixth edition of UL 9540A and the importance of evaluating fire propagation, thermal exposure and re-ignition. It also highlighted how battery design and installation layout influence the outcome of a severe fire event.
Testing Under Dense Installation Conditions
Ampace tested the PU100 in a configuration representative of dense data center installations. The setup included a 3-meter ceiling height, zero side-by-side cabinet clearance, 20-millimeter back-to-back clearance and 850-millimeter face-to-face clearance. All cabinets were at 100% state of charge.
Heaters initiated thermal runaway in the trigger module, which was then ignited to establish sustained combustion. The test tracked fire development, propagation and sprinkler activation, followed by observation for re-ignition and post-test teardown analysis.
The results presented included:
- No thermal runaway propagation to adjacent modules and no fire spread to target cabinets.
- No sprinkler activation throughout the test.
- Self-extinguishment after approximately 40 minutes and no re-ignition during the following 24 hours.
- No burning debris escaping the cabinet.
- Wall temperature rise below 80°C and ceiling steel beam temperature below 250°C.
According to Ampace's comparison presented at the conference, the test met the UL 9540A sixth-edition LSFT criteria assessed and demonstrated additional margins on several measures. These included wall temperature rise below the cited 97°C limit and ceiling steel beam temperature below the cited 538°C limit. The 24-hour observation also extended beyond the 12-hour re-ignition period referenced in the presentation, with no sprinkler activation during the test.
Safety Engineered at Module and Cabinet Levels
Designed to support dynamic AI workloads and reliable backup power, the PU100 incorporates multiple layers of protection. These include all-metal module and cabinet enclosures, ceramic thermal insulation in the modules, high-voltage box and cabinet, and thermal barriers designed to limit fire propagation.
Post-test teardown provided further evidence of containment. Modules adjacent to the initiating module showed no thermal runaway and retained normal voltage readings of 53.2 V. The initiating cabinet showed discoloration but no significant structural damage or collapse, while the adjacent cabinet retained its mechanical integrity and was reported to remain operational.
Dr. Feng brings extensive experience in battery safety standards development to this work. He recently became the first expert from China's lithium-ion battery industry to receive the UL Standards Outstanding Contribution Award and was also awarded the TC Members Five-Year Honorary Medal. As a voting member of UL technical committees, he has contributed to the development of 19 UL standards, including UL 9540 and UL 9540A, which are directly relevant to energy storage system safety and thermal runaway fire propagation testing.
By sharing the test configuration, measured results and teardown findings, Ampace aims to give data center operators and infrastructure partners a clearer basis for evaluating UPS battery fire safety. Combining practical testing with active participation in standards development, the company continues to advance battery systems that support dependable backup power and limit the impact of thermal runaway.
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Ampace Presents PU100 Large-Scale Fire Test Results at Data Centre World Asia 2026
Ampace Presents PU100 Large-Scale Fire Test Results at Data Centre World Asia 2026
