Experience shows a strong case for CHP

With considerable pressure on NHS Trusts to make energy and cost savings, and simultaneously to reduce their emissions and carbon footprint, energy services company and Energy Performance Contract (EPC) specialist, Cynergin, takes a look at how Trusts across the country are ‘overhauling their energy infrastructures and moving towards greener technologies – with CHP systems at the heart of many projects’.

Lord Carter’s ground-breaking report, published in February, highlighted how the NHS could generate £5 billion worth of savings for acute hospital Trusts in England annually; these Trusts currently spend around £55.6 billion per annum. With hospital estates spending some £750 million on energy each year, one of the key recommendations was for all Trusts to have a strategic estates and facilities plan that would reduce their energy costs and contribute to the savings target required to be achieved by 2020/2021. Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems were among the technologies highlighted. Cynergin, one of the leading energy savings companies (ESCOs), is working in partnership with Trusts across the country to invest in the latest technologies that not only boost their environmental credentials, but will also drive down their energy costs and deliver tangible savings. 

With their 24/7, 365 day-a-year functionality, hospitals are, by their nature, high energy consumers. Heavily reliant on electricity, hot water, steam, cooling, and air-conditioning, they are ideal candidates for CHP systems, which can produce the energy required for these functions. Indeed the number of hospital Trusts investing in CHP systems is climbing steadily, and, for many, combined heat and power forms a major part of their overall strategy for reducing energy and their dependence on the National Grid. Lower and more predictable energy bills are clearly attractive for any estates manager looking both to balance the books and meet environmental obligations.