Rendering of the new hotel and casino. Credit: Wynn Resorts
Wynn Boston Harbor, a new hotel and casino under construction on the Mystic River in Massachusetts, has plans to add battery storage, rooftop solar, and two cogeneration plants, the Chelsea Record reports.
When completed, the 3 million square foot resort located in Everett will boast an extensive gaming floor, a parking garage that can hold up to 3,000 cars, and a 29-story tower of hotel rooms, MassLive.com reported. The total cost has risen over time from the low billions to around $2.4 billion now. MassLive.com called Wynn Boston Harbor “the largest private single-phase development in the history of Massachusetts.”
In order to support such a massive site, Wynn Boston Harbor’s team is collaborating with international companies to add an array of batteries to the building, according to the Chelsea Record. Although the Wynn hasn’t said which batteries they will be installing, the goal is to store power purchased during less expensive off-peak times. Gordon also noted that the resort will hire a worker to keep a close eye on commodities markets and determine the ideal times to purchase energy.
The batteries are expected to lower energy usage by 40%, Chris Gordon, president of Wynn Design and Development Massachusetts told the paper. “The window seals are so much better than they were 30 years ago, it’s amazing. You save when you use less,” Gordon says. “Years ago people started to build green buildings because it was the right thing to do. Now it’s a good business decision and a good environmental decision.”
In addition, they anticipate putting 90,000 square feet of photovoltaics over the function hall and entrance to harness solar power that would get stored in the batteries.
The Wynn Boston Harbor is also adding to cogeneration plants, each about 15 feet by 10 feet in size, which will generate electricity for the resort. A public description of the resort construction project released in February described a cogeneration plant that will use a nominal 1-megawatt micro-turbine to provide approximately 20% of the entire project’s annual electrical consumption as well as significant amounts of absorption cooling, heat, and hot water.
“All in all, we believe we’ll be able to run 70 to 80% of the building’s functions just off of the power we have inside,” Gordon told the Chelsea Record.
For several years now, the hospitality industry has been paying close attention to energy efficiency. MGM Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Caesars Entertainment, and the Las Vegas Sands are among the leaders.
Early on in their project planning, Wynn announced it would be pursuing LEED Platinum certification for the new resort. In addition to energy-saving measures, the building was designed to sit well above storm surge levels and the 500-year floodplain. All of the utilities are located on top of the central utility plant and the garage contains pumps just in case flooding does occur. Wynn Boston Harbor is set to open its doors in June 2019.