Vital Energi has installed air source heat pumps and solar PV systems to reduce Bridlington Hospital’s carbon emissions significantly.
The hospital’s energy efficiency will be improved by installing energy conservation measures, including thermal insulation, and modifying air handling units to reduce energy consumption.
The energy project also includes optimising the heating and hot water systems across the hospital estate, which will reduce energy usage and improve the performance of the new heat pumps.
20-year-old gas-fired boilers and a gas-fired CHP system generate the hospital’s heating and hot water. The project will see the CHP being de-commissioned and one of the boilers removed to make way for the installation of a 600kW air source heat pump system capable of supplying 100% of the hospital’s heating and hot water demand. When coupled with the new 750kWp solar PV system, the heat pumps will generate zero carbon heat at the hospital.
1600 solar panels
The solar PV system, which combines over 1,600 panels, both ground and roof mounted, will be capable of supplying 100% of the electricity demand of the heat pumps, meaning at times, 100% of the heat demand of the hospital will be met via a 100% renewable source. Solar PV will also provide a proportion of the hospital’s electricity requirements too.
The hospital’s energy-related carbon emissions will be reduced by over 50% compared to current operations, and as the national grid continues to decarbonise electricity generation, these savings will increase further.
Steve Black, Vital Energi’s account director, said: “We set out to design and deliver a solution which would enable the Trust to fully transition from gas-fired heat generation to a more sustainable system, which we had to do whilst ensuring the project did not increase the Trust’s annual energy and operational costs.
“We have achieved this and are delighted that we have given the Trust a system which, not only means the Trust is no longer reliant on burning fossil fuel at the hospital, but they will also have an energy system which is capable of being 100% carbon zero.”
The project received £4.7m grant funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), which is administered by Salix Finance on behalf of the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
Extremely challenging time frame
The funding was secured through the combined efforts of the Trust and Vital Energi teams working together to submit a complex application within an extremely challenging timeframe.
DESNZ, York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and Vital Energi are delivering the project through the Carbon and Energy Fund Framework, which has been specifically created to fund complex energy infrastructure upgrades for public sector organisations.
Lee Podger, client relationship manager with the CEF, said: “The CEF has been working with the Trust for over eight years, initially with the procurement of new low carbon energy facilities at the Trust’s sites within York and Bridlington. The project at Bridlington is set to be a landmark scheme, which will provide valuable insight into how existing NHS estate can be transformed into efficient low carbon assets.”