The Guys’ and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has become one of London’s first NHS Trusts to produce its own electricity and heat to power its hospitals – in move it says will save the equivalent CO2 of around 17,000 passengers flying to New York.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Milliband officially opened a new combined heat and power (CHP) unit at St Thomas’ on 10 September. Each of the two hospitals now has its own General Electric Genbacjer CHP unit, which use a gas engine to drive an alternator that produces enough electricity to meet half the Trust’s requirements. The waste heat generated, in the form of steam and hot water, is collected and used for heating and hot water. Overall the units will reduce the Trust’s annual CO2 emissions by almost 11,300 tonnes per year, saving it over £1.5 million in energy costs. The units have been funded by a £10 million grant from the Department of Heath’s Energy and Sustainability Fund. The CHP units’ installation is the latest major step in the Trust’s “Earthcare and Energy” campaign, under which it says it is already well on its way to exceeding the targets set by the Department of Health and the NHS. By 2010, it is estimated it will have reduced its CO2 emissions by 20%.
