Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding of £5.3 million has enabled Ormskirk District and General Hospital to replace its ageing boiler plant with a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, and enable Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust to gain climate change levy exemption.
The new CHP will provide the West Lancashire hospital, a 174-bed general hospital providing maternity, planned surgery, rehabilitation and a children’s unit, with environmentally generated heating and electricity supplies. Built under a 30-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) energy deal, available through the NHS Procure21 initiative, the project will see energy management company Dalkia provide 24-hour plant operation and maintenance services for the next 30 years.
The new energy centre, which is located away from the hospital’s existing boiler plant, houses a gas-fired 1 Megawatt combined heat and power (CHP) unit coupled to a waste heat boiler and two gas-fired boilers, which provide hot water. Combined heat and power units are typically twice as efficient at generating electricity than conventional boilers, and will also lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Other changes will include a new control system and standby generators, plus the addition of a new workshop facility to serve the hospital estates department. Private Finance Initiative investments in energy systems have allowed many NHS hospitals to benefit from environmentallyfriendly and reliable heating and electricity supplies. To date Dalkia has invested around £50 million through PFI in energy plants in over 50 hospitals. Steve Taylor, director of facilities at the Trust said: “The new environmentally friendly scheme will ensure the hospital has a reliable and economic source of heat and power for the future which will enhance the patient care environment.”
