Hotel owners simply can’t overlook their energy usage. In fact, in a 2022 report titled “Hotels: An Overview of Energy Use and Energy Efficiency Opportunities,” Energy Star found that, on average, the American hotel spends $2,196 per room each year on energy costs. On top of those everyday costs, extended power outages and extreme weather conditions can be crippling to a hotel’s balance sheet. Meanwhile, increased focus on sustainability from both guests and government means that green practices are no longer a “nice to have.” They are imperative to a hotel’s future success.
One way hotel owners can tackle their energy challenges is by installing a battery-based energy-storage system, a device that stores energy in a giant battery for later use. Many ESS units operate on renewable energy, like solar or wind, and offer various storage capabilities that can be scaled to the size of the hotel. ESS can be coupled with an existing solar system or connected directly to the grid.
Here are three ways that ESS can help hotels address energy issues.
1. Reduce Energy Bills
Business 101 tells us that there are two ways to be more profitable: increase revenue or reduce expenses. An ESS helps with the latter by storing energy gathered for later use during peak periods. This could be as simple as storing up solar energy during the sunny morning hours for use during the evening rush or taking advantage of the low cost power in the middle of the night to have extra energy available for the afternoon surge. In both examples, by switching to saved energy at times when grid costs are the highest, hotel owners can quickly reduce that $2,200 energy bill spent annually per room.
This is where the real value of an ESS comes to play. Unlike other equipment such as generators or emergency lighting that are purchased with the hope they will never be used, an ESS is purchased with the idea that it is used and starts paying you back immediately. Instead of asking the question, “How much is this going to cost?,” hotel owners exploring an ESS quickly realize the question they should be asking is, “How much is this going to save me?” The previously mentioned Energy Star report also states that hotels spend approximately 6 percent of their operating costs on energy. If that figure could be reduced by even just 1 percent, how much more profit would that mean to a hotel’s bottom line?
2. Backup Power
Power outages are nightmares for hoteliers. In addition to creating unsafe and unpleasant conditions for guests (which could lead to bad reviews at best and guest and site safety issues at worst), outages can affect everything from lights and elevators to critical business systems and kitchen appliances. An extended outage like we saw in the Northeast Blackout of 2003 could shut down a hotel for days, weeks or—in some cases—for good.
Now, the good news is that we’ve come a long way in the last 20 years, and backup power in hotels in now required by The International Code Council. But while diesel generators have historically been the chosen solution, they are often noisy, emit carbon monoxide, require ongoing fuel costs and regular maintenance and can typically only power a small area at a time.
An ESS, in addition to avoiding many of the traditional problems of diesel generators noted above, can have four commercial units stacked together, offering 1,000 kilowatts of stored energy for use during extended blackouts. When paired with sufficient solar energy and with reasonable adaptation for the available power, the hotel can keep all critical systems operational, including safety systems, refrigeration, internet and business systems. When those business systems still work at the hotel restaurant and bar, the hotel can maintain or even increase revenue during an outage.
3. Greener Practices
With the increasing focus on sustainable business practices from guests and government agencies, ESS can be a big part of a hotel’s journey to a greener future with more focus on renewable energy sources like solar and wind (for everyday power) and less reliance on fossil fuels (for backup power).
Not only is it the right thing to do for the environment, but there are tangible benefits for hotel owners too. Being listed as a “green hotel” could result in more traffic from sustainably focused travelers. Plus, green business practices in general help reduce expenses as well by using less water, less peak energy, and less environmentally harmful chemicals.
There are even state and federal incentives tied to energy storage systems. The Inflation Reduction Act, for instance, has introduced the opportunity of incentive tax credits through 2032, and hoteliers can claim up to $5 per square foot for energy efficient commercial buildings deductions if they own the building or property. At the state level, in California, PG&E’s Hospitality Money-Back Solutions program offers rebates and incentives for front- and back-of-house solutions including generators and battery ESS at the time of this publication. In New York State, National Grid’s Large Business Program incentivizes energy efficiency solutions for commercial businesses.
Energy Matters
Hotel owners don’t have the luxury of overlooking their energy usage. With rising costs and increased sustainability demands, hotels must be considering their energy footprint. Fortunately, energy storage systems will help reduce energy bills, provide backup power for critical systems, and move towards greener business practices. And that’s a luxury we can all enjoy.
Post time: Jun-14-2023