ENERGY GENERATION
intensive site to using that site as the anchor load for local low carbon heating and hot water.
How do we get there? However, before this is realised, there is a need to reframe both the work and the workforce. Access to the necessary electrical capacity is a core issue familiar to so many, yet often overlooked in national conversations about the topic. During the discussion staged by elemental UK, Christine St John Cox, ESC Platform lead for Sites, and head of MEP at Energy Systems Catapult, addressed previous work carried out in collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to understand and accelerate decarbonisation across the public sector. She suggested implementing basic energy efficiency measures for emissions savings, emphasising the opportunity to reduce annual electrical load before grid decarbonisation. She said: “We found that there are some basic energy efficiency measures we should all be implementing. About 5% of investment can result in approximately 20% of emissions savings through basic energy efficiency measures, before the grid decarbonises. That gives hospitals the opportunity to reduce their annual electrical load.” She agreed on the potential of heat pumps as a choice for heating, but highlighted the need to consider network capacity limitations: “As you move to a heat pump of your choice,” she said, “you then have the potential of additional ceiling room to not constrain yourself too much with your Distribution Network Operator (DNO), which is a big issue with network capacity.” Indeed Trusts are frustrated and have scrapped greener investment initiatives due to years of delay in grid capacity upgrades that would allow
Christine St John Cox, ESC Platform lead for Sites, and head of MEP at Energy Systems Catapult, agreed on the potential of heat pumps as a choice for heating, but highlighted the need to consider network capacity limitations.
low carbon solutions to be delivered in a matter of months. Similarly, Heather Foster, Sector lead
for Education, Healthcare, and Public Sector, at Veolia UK, highlighted the importance of decarbonisation through lower temperatures and more efficient technology. She said: “Innovation doesn’t always mean using emerging technologies, but can involve adopting a system approach, insulating buildings, reducing heat load, controlling electrical demand, and installing heat pumps.” A recent discussion between Lexica’s clients and MP, Chris Skidmore, on the ‘Mission zero: Independent review of net zero’, considered how the Net Zero target could maximise economic growth while also increasing energy security and
affordability for consumers and businesses. The review reinforced the breakthrough opportunity that local energy plans present. It recommended reforming the planning system at a local and national level to ensure that it supports Net Zero and the economic opportunities that come with it, as well as simplifying the local Net Zero funding landscape to make it more efficient and productive for central and local government.
Hospitals in the UK operate with a range of legacy heating systems, some of which are more than 40 years’ old, Lexica points out.
50 Health Estate Journal March 2024
Planning ahead for local generation and transmission Put quite simply, planning ahead for local generation, transmission, and distribution, isn’t yet the modus operandi (and reflects the wider knots of devolution, local government mandates, and their ever-stretched budgets), but it’s certainly the obvious trajectory. As always, it’s then about the people. The NHS is the world’s first health service to set Net Zero targets, and has ambitious plans to achieve them. That the workforce must embrace new skills and approaches, and staff’s enthusiasm will need to be palpable. Success in achieving these targets will depend on the workforce’s ability to perform in ‘green jobs’. Research from the Resolution Foundation (the results were revealed in its June 2022 report, Net zero jobs: The impact of the transition to net zero on the UK labour market) into the skills required for green jobs found that meeting emissions targets will require significant green jobs growth in the next decade. The National Grid estimates there will be an additional 260,000 energy workers needed by 2050 to get to Net Zero, and research from the Construction Industry Training Board estimates that the UK will need 60,000 workers for heat pump
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