The National Health Service celebrated NHS Sustainability Day yesterday by announcing that its deployment of energy efficiency systems and on-site generators had helped it save more than £300 million in costs.
Energy conservation measures and on-site renewables such as combined heat and power (CHP) and biomass have been adopted by NHS Trusts and health boards across the UK to limit carbon emissions and help reduce the public body’s energy bills.
Those systems, procured under the NHS’ carbon and energy fund, have been underpinned by energy performance contracts with Vital Energi, which guarantees minimum financial savings and carbon reductions over the length of the contracts, which vary from 15 to 25 years.
Of those works, notable projects including the installation of CHP plants for both York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which, alongside other works, helped the two trusts reduce CO2 emissions by 87,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes respectively.
A total of 14 hospitals have benefitted from the upgrades so far and Ashley Malin, project development director at Vital Energi, said that the results were a “great indicator” of the potential within the NHS to make drastic savings.
“The NHS is under a lot of pressure to cut costs, but most hospitals need to update their infrastructure and address serious maintenance backlogs. The technologies we use generate such strong financial savings that not only do they cover the cost of the new energy systems and upgrades, but there is money left over to be invested in front-line clinical services,” he said.
