Nostromo Energy has developed an ice-based thermal energy storage system, which has a round-trip efficiency rate of 90%, compared to many battery storage options, which have round-trip efficiency rates ranging from 70-85%. The Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills hotels have partnered with Nostromo Energy to install this innovative system for their commercial applications. Both hotels, located in Beverly Hills, California, are prestigious and have hosted the annual Golden Globe awards for decades. The IceBrick technology, created by Nostromo Energy, is a compact and modular cold-energy storage cell designed to retrofit existing buildings with central-chilled water systems and air-conditioning equipment.
How The IceBrick System Works
The IceBrick system charges by freezing the water-based cells using clean energy during off-peak hours and then discharges during peak hours into the building’s central air conditioning system to supply the same cold energy needed but without using electricity from the grid. As buildings consume 75% of all electricity, they can help the grid integrate more renewables by shifting their consumption during peak hours to hours of renewables-generated power. The IceBrick system not only provides carbon-free energy for air conditioning, which accounts for almost half of the energy use in buildings, but it also significantly lowers energy costs by avoiding peak pricing or participating in the demand response market.
Cost and Savings Of The System
The IceBrick system is fully automated and managed by a cloud-based software that generates individually customized operational plans for each system. With respect to installation, the system can be installed within 6-9 months of contracting and is eligible for investment tax credits and local utility rebates, which effectively lowers the capital acquisition cost by about half. The capacity is customized according to the building’s needs and can be in the range of 1-3 MWh, with cooling energy capacity units in thousands of Ton-refrigeration hours and electrical units in Megawatt-hours. Nostromo Energy sells the system as a service, with zero down payment of capital costs, where the company arranges financing and sells energy to the customer at a guaranteed discount to its utility costs.
Carbon Emissions Reduction
The IceBrick system saves over 200 metric tons of CO2 annually. This reduction in carbon emissions aligns with the efforts to combat climate change and reduce carbon footprints by using clean energy to power buildings and large-scale commercial applications.
Conclusion
The partnership between Nostromo Energy, the Beverly Hilton, and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills hotels is an exciting development towards energy efficiency and sustainability in commercial buildings and large-scale applications. Thermal energy storage systems like the IceBrick solution offer a cost-effective and clean energy option for buildings and large commercial applications, thereby reducing their carbon footprints, contributing to the fight against climate change, and providing more energy-efficient and cost-saving solutions. Technology like the IceBrick system is a significant step towards a greener future, and more organizations should explore such systems to help achieve a sustainable future.
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