Could skyscrapers be used as giant batteries?

Skip to content (Image credit: AP Photo/Fatima Shbair) Transcript: The architecture and engineering firm behind some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers has spun off a start-up that’s designing a new type of tall tower – one that stores energy like a giant battery. Adam Semel is a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which designed the Burj Khalifa and Willis Tower. And he’s co-founder and CEO of Ourea Energy. He says Ourea’s design for the so-called GravityBank uses an approach called pumped hydropower. A pumped hydro facility stores excess energy by using it to pump water from a low-elevation reservoir to a higher one. Semel: “That difference in height allows us to use the power of gravity to do the work for us.” When energy is needed, the water is released. It rushes down, spins a turbine, and generates electricity. Typically, pumped hydro facilities are built in remote mountainous areas. But Ourea plans to use the same approach in a tall tower with water tanks at the top and bottom. So it can be deployed almost anywhere – like near solar or wind farms or in cities where power demand is high. Semel: “And more than 60% of the structure is actually empty, so we can start to think about putting other things in there.” … like apartments, offices, or hotels. So one day, these energy-storing towers could help shape city skylines. Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media