San Francisco Skyscraper To Have Energy Storage System

One Maritime Plaza, an office tower in San Francisco’s Financial District, will have a 500 kilowatt/1,000 kilowatt-hour Advanced Microgrid Solutions energy storage system installed. Tesla Powerpack batteries will be used in the system. The building has 25 floors of office space and is 398 feet tall; its owner is Morgan Stanley Real Estate. (Advanced Microgrid Solutions is located in San Francisco, not too far from the Financial District.)

“As a San Francisco-based company, we are thrilled to partner with Morgan Stanley to bring best-in-class storage and software technology to the City. Hybrid Electric Buildings® allow forward-looking companies like Morgan Stanley to help build tomorrow’s energy grid,” explained Susan Kennedy, the AMS CEO.

Advanced Microgrid Solutions is communicating with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) about potentially using the utility bill savings generated in the first year of the energy storage system’s operation for other energy storage projects.

The One Maritime Plaza system is expected to reduce the building’s peak electricity demand up to 20%. It can be used during periods of highest electricity demand to avoid the costly rates. Peaker plants are used to generate electricity when there are peaks in demand, and during emergencies, but they burn fossil fuels which contributes to climate change and creates air pollution. So avoiding the use of this electricity has some environmental benefits. (Eventually, dirty peaker plants may be replaced.)

One Maritime Plaza was completed in 1967 and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. It was one of the first to have external trusses and X-braces for seismic bracing. The building was LEED certified in 2011 and has an Energy Star rating.

Coincidentally, Morgan Stanley released a report in March of this year titled Bricks, Mortar, and Carbon about the potential value of applying sustainable measures to office buildings, “Overall, the real estate investment team estimates that a typical office building that integrates sustainable practices could help reduce building expenses by 3 to 30 percent, creating $3.5 billion to $34.9 billion of asset value in the top 10 U.S. markets in the process.”

Image Credit: Blackguard SF, CC BY-SA 4.0