ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
for instance if they only have on-street parking. Assuming that the car will be left in the parking bay, plugged in for the full duration of the working shift (e.g. 8 hours), lower capacity chargers can be installed.
Managing charging and bill energy usage Systems and technology are available to manage charging and bill energy usage with parking charges through staff payroll. While navigating employee benefit taxation implications, the charging tariff could incentivise carbon-reducing behaviours, such as car-sharing. If adding electric vehicle charging pushes the site’s overall demand beyond the desired rating, the system can be managed to operate within available capacity. Providing EV charging for visitors is beneficial for reducing the hospital’s carbon footprint. However, as visitors usually park for shorter periods, higher capacity fast chargers might be needed, which increases additional capacity requirements. The charging tariff can be used to manage demand,
although one measure that might be undesirable in hospital settings would be imposing penalties for leaving the car parked in the bay once it has become fully charged, because if the visitor is delayed in leaving the hospital that would seem very unfair. Trusts will also wish to consider whether providing EV charging to members of the public is a non-core business area that they wish to venture into (no hospital that I can recall owns an on-site petrol station).
Striking a careful balance So, caution is advised in drawing a balance between providing a convenience for visitors and helping to reduce the carbon footprint (visitors may be stressed and welcome that convenience – particularly during the current transition period when EV charging infrastructure is not fully developed), and/or becoming embroiled in a complex non-core activity.
Budget and timetable are always likely to be major influences on what can be done and when. However, it is a good professional approach to take time to stand back and consider what would be done in an ideal situation if these were not issues. This exercise will help develop a masterplan that represents the ideal solution for the estate and serves as a guiding principle. From it, we can identify affordable, urgent actions without compromising the overall vision. The masterplanning stage is when the system
architecture will be decided, and it is at this early stage that it is important to consider the cybersecurity implications of introducing levels of automation or monitoring versus the security of not having critical equipment connected to the internet to minimise vulnerability to attack. Here are some examples of what our NHS clients say: Richie Speight, assistant director of Estates at North
Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The replacement of the electrical infrastructure was essential to avoid failure. The increased capacity and improved resilience realised by the project have enabled several improvements for patients, including new imaging facilities that would not otherwise have been possible, as there was
Figure 10: Having sufficient on-site capacity for EV charging will become increasingly important.
just not enough power available before the project.” Nigel Keery, head of Estates Operations for the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, said: “The HV upgrade Project at the Royal has stood the test of time since it came into operation 12 years ago. The increased capacity has enabled the continuing development of the site, including the recently completed Maternity Hospital redevelopment.”
The latest solutions on the horizon for Estates managers My approach, after 40 years’ experience, may be more cautious than others, but the reliability of hospital electricity supplies is paramount. Not only does the hospital need to be able to operate in the event of power disruption, but it is also likely to be busier than usual, because if the lights have gone out, more accidents will happen. Therefore, using tried and tested reliable technology does seem like a sensible starting point. Nevertheless, there is emerging technology that, once tried and tested, might become suitable for use in the healthcare setting in time. For instance, even when decarbonisation of primary supplies has been completed, conducting standby diesel generator tests will still be necessary, and will release a relatively small amount of carbon that would have to be offset.
Emerging technologies So, one technology to watch is whether alternative, equally reliable methods of standby generation will emerge. In this context it is important to measure emerging technology against the standard that is currently applied, which is to provide 100% supply to the agreed areas of the estate for 200 hours (just over eight days) without fuel resupply. Diesel fuel is readily available as B7 (up to 7% biofuel content), but hospital engineers will want to be assured that older engines can use this fuel, and to consider the impact of reduced shelf life – e.g. do you have to use more to keep it refreshed, thus ending up releasing more carbon? Will fuel with a higher biofuel content (up to B100) become readily available, and – if adopted – will new engines be required, or will modifications suffice? Will green hydrogen become sufficiently abundant and reliable? To avoid further adding to the electrical demand of
the site, green hydrogen might be best made off site, but stored on site for 200 hours’ autonomy. This is just one area of technology development. There are many others that space precludes discussing here; but let the conversation continue.
Ed McNaught
Ed McNaught RD, DL, CEng, FIET, FIHEEM, Healthcare specialist at TGA Consulting Engineers, joined the business in January 2024, bringing the benefit of his 40+ years of electrical engineering experience to support TGA’s expanding health sector portfolio. He started work in
the power industry in the 1980s, and has worked in several sectors, most recently heading the Newcastle M&E office of a large multinational consultancy. A Chartered Electrical Engineer with a particular interest in healthcare engineering, he has extensive experience developing electrical infrastructure to support the high levels of resilience required for hospitals, and simultaneously enabling the incorporation of decarbonised energy solutions.
October 2024 Health Estate Journal 59
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