£2.4m grant to replace hospital heating system

£2.4m grant to help Fairfield General say goodbye to old smoky

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been awarded a grant of £2.4 million from the Government’s Energy Fund to replace Fairfield General Hospital’s ageing coal-fired steam boiler plant with a new modern gas hot water system.

In January 2013, the Government announced its intention to support the NHS by allocating a £50 million capital fund for 2013-14 to fund new and innovative projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS.

All NHS Trusts across the country were invited to submit bids against the fund to support them in further achieving energy and carbon reductions as set out in the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England.

The Pennine Acute Trust, which runs Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, has been successful in its bid of £2.4 million to build a new more environmentally friendly gas low pressure hot water system and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit.

Traditionally electricity is generated at centralised power stations with an efficiency in the region of 40%. Further losses are incurred in the transmission systems of around 5%, giving a resultant efficiency of 35%. By using a Combined Heat and Power Unit.

(CHP) system, the Trust can expect to achieve an efficiency of up to 85% which will have the most significant impact on operational costs and reduction in carbon emissions.

The environmental challenge placed on NHS Trusts by the Government’s Carbon Reduction Strategy means that the Trust must reduce its carbon emissions by 10% by 2015. This scheme alone will reduce the emissions from the Fairfield site by 53%. This will release savings in the order of £600,000 per year for reinvestment in patient services.

To help deliver the scheme, the Trust is working with a local North West company, Ellesmere Engineering.

John Wilkes, Director of Facilities at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this grant from the Government’s Energy Fund. This is excellent news not only for the staff and the patients who we treat here at Fairfield General Hospital, but to the local population and communities surrounding the hospital site. As you would imagine, the running of hospitals is very expensive, not only in maintenance but in power. Not only will the new gas boiler be much more efficient, it will bring other benefits by helping to provide a cleaner site by removing the soot and coal dust emissions from the existing boiler plant. We are also keen to use this capital investment to enlist the work and expertise of local companies in Manchester to help us in our efforts to further reduce our carbon footprint.”

The NHS spends approximately £600 million a year on energy. Hospitals run a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year service and it takes a huge amount of energy to power lifesaving equipment such as intensive care beds and operating theatres.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter today said: “This summer I launched the procurement roadmap showing how our NHS could be run more efficiently and how we could reduce the running costs of NHS buildings and estates. These energy efficiency schemes will help our NHS to make £13.7 million of savings each and every year.

“Winter is fast approaching and we are all looking at ways to reduce our energy bills while keeping our homes warm and well-lit. Our NHS is one of the largest users of energy in the country. And just like the rest of us, hospitals should be doing everything they can to reduce the amount they spend.

“These schemes demonstrate the easy ways our NHS can make improvements to help power hospitals more efficiently, save on energy bills, and reduce their carbon emissions. Money saved will be reinvested directly in to patient care.”

Engineering work has now started at Fairfield and is expected to be completed by the end of July 2014.