Derriford Hospital in Plymouth is ready to save over £228,000 a year on its energy bills thanks to British Gas’s installation of a new CHP unit, the energy supplier says.
The 1.5 MW unit will produce 49% of the hospital’s power needs and 9% of its heating. It was installed as part of an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) with British Gas that aims to reduce Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust’s £3.5m annual energy spend by 10% over its 15-year lifespan, and cut over 1,800 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
The nine-month installation, which was completed in October 2014, was ‘fairly complex’; clear, unhindered access had to be maintained to the hospital’s Platelet Collection Centre, and connections to the hospital’s electricity and heating supplies made without interruption. Crane access was particularly challenging, with the CHP unit located close to the hospital’s air ambulance landing site.
The plant is already making ‘a significant contribution’ to the Trust’s heating and electricity supply. Nick Thomas, director of site services, said: “The CHP unit is already considerably reducing our energy costs. In the future, this will provide extra resilience to our electricity supplies, and will be a major step towards meeting our target of reducing carbon emissions by 30% over the next five years.”
