As part of our ongoing program to manage the environmental impacts of our buildings and help customers reduce operating costs, Prologis installed three 15-kilowatt-hour (kWh) Tesla Powerwall battery storage units in our new development at DIRFT III DC2 in Daventry, England. The 115,800 square foot (10,760 square meter) distribution center, completed in September of 2017, is located at the entrance to the third phase of the rail-connected park Prologis RFI DIRFT. The batteries will store up to 45 kWh of power and release it as needed.

Warehouse lighting is the most significant drain on energy in this building, and the 56 kWp rooftop solar photovoltaic system, designed to produce around 48,000 kWh of electricity per year, does not generate power on cloudy days or during the evening. To address this gap, we sized the solar photovoltaic systems to match the constant base load. On sunny days, the building will function without drawing from the grid, and any surplus energy will be exported to the batteries and released during the evening when lighting demand rises. This is also the time when power costs are likely to be highest.

UK customers often have multi-level electricity purchase tariffs that make energy cheaper outside peak-demand hours. In some cases, the difference in price is significant. The battery storage system will manage peak demand by storing energy when demand is low and releasing it when demand is high. The system’s ability to manage demand allows customers to purchase more power at reduced costs.

We have remote energy monitoring equipment in the building and will work with the future tenant to use this technology effectively. After one year, we will assess how the building performed, the impact of battery storage on energy costs and actions we can take to achieve greater efficiencies.

Read more about Prologis’ approach to sustainable development.