Premier Inn has in partnership with E.ON has installed UK’s first hotel based battery storage unit. The lithium ion based battery has a capacity of 100 KWh and will be used to store excess energy produced from the hotel’s rooftop solar panel array. The battery will be used for at least 2 hours per day to meet the hotel’s energy demand at peak hours. As the Whitbred-owned hotel Gyle located in Edinburg park area has 200 rooms, its energy demand requires huge energy backup. The lithium battery will ensure energy backup as well

The company chose Edinburg park hotels. Scotland is one of the largest producer of renewable energy specifically wind energy owing to its windy territory even though onshore and offshore winds have tendency of volatility. The site already equipped with smart lighting, LED fitting and many more sustainable and energy efficient features is now also integrated to E.ON system. E.ON system will enable the smart features to be remotely controlled from its facility.

The hotel conglomerate owns 680 hotels in the UK plans to install the battery in all its hotels soon, as annual savings of £20,000 is expected from the Premier Inn battery installation. If the carbon cost and energy efficiency is up to the mark, the hotel chain will unroll the project in near future. The ultimate aim is to reduce carbon footprint, save money, achieve energy efficiency along with adoption of a low carbon smart grid in the country.

Premier Inn has already installed solar panels to 169 hotels in its hospitality business chain, the solar capacity of Premier Inn has surpassed 3MW. The company wants to cut its carbon reliance to half the current position by the end of 2025. The rest of the demand is met by renewable energy as well by SSE, this has made the hotel chain completely powered by clean energy. As Whitbred has already made rapid progress towards an eco-friendly completely clean operational model, it is also transitioning towards water efficiency. In 2017 regulator ofwat, The Water Regulation Authority, licensed the chain to deliver its own wastewater and water services. Self-supply of water through its own systems will ensure cost reductions and greater consumption control.

Premier Inn CEO said the project will have thorough impact on the country by serving as a role model for sustainable and zero carbon footprint businesses. As solar technology cost has dropped in the recent years, businesses are looking to green and save money at the same time.

Published by Sandali

A former journalist, Sandali is a content marketer with over 5 years of writing experience, across various industries including Food Innovation, Healthcare, and IoT and Technology. Sandali has been weaving corporate stories for organizations through different forms of impactful marketing content. Her key aim is to strategically align well-crafted narratives with business objectives, translating into a powerful communications platform for the company.

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