NET ZERO
Electricity and the hospital of the future
Jim Howlett, business development manager – public sector, and Jo Lees, sales coordinator, both of RenEnergy, explain why, in the NHS, decarbonisation is becoming less about installing renewable technology, and more about designing a future-proof electrical estate capable of accommodating increased generation, storage, and demand while maintaining a reliable supply for critical services.
For decades, efficiency within healthcare estates has largely meant finding ways to consume less. That remains fundamental to good estate management. Yet the next phase of NHS decarbonisation presents a more complicated challenge: the hospital of the future is likely to need more electricity, not less. The electrification of heat, transition towards electric
vehicles (EVs), growing charging requirements, and continued introduction of electrically powered clinical and operational technology will all influence future demand. At the same time, NHS organisations must reduce emissions, manage operating costs, and maintain the resilience of estates providing critical services around the clock. For estates teams, the question is therefore changing. It is no longer simply: how can we reduce electricity consumption? Increasingly, it is: how can we meet a changing electrical load efficiently, affordably and reliably? This is becoming an electrical infrastructure challenge as much as a decarbonisation challenge.
The challenge is bigger than renewable generation The NHS has established ambitious decarbonisation objectives, including reaching Net Zero for emissions it directly controls by 2040 and for the wider NHS Carbon Footprint Plus by 2045. Achieving those ambitions will involve greater electrification across healthcare estates. However, renewable energy infrastructure is being introduced into environments that can already face competing capital priorities, ageing infrastructure, restricted space, and the requirement to maintain uninterrupted clinical services. Electrification creates further pressure. As NHS fleets move towards zero-emission vehicles,
hospitals will require increasing levels of charging infrastructure. Electrification of heating could add substantial new electrical loads, while clinical technology, digital systems, diagnostic equipment, and other electrically powered services will continue to evolve. The challenge is therefore not simply generating renewable electricity. It is accommodating increasing electrical demand within complex estates while maintaining affordability and reliability. Renewable energy projects also compete for investment alongside backlog maintenance, clinical equipment, building upgrades, digital infrastructure, and major redevelopment programmes. Estates teams must determine not only what is technically possible, but which interventions deliver the greatest long-term value
October 2026 Health Estate Journal 97
and how they should be phased; this requires a broader view of energy strategy.
Start with the estate, not the technology Solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS), solar carports, and EV charging all have potential roles within future healthcare estates. Effective planning, however, should not begin by selecting a technology. It should begin by understanding the estate. Hospitals are unusually complex environments. A single
acute hospital can contain wards, theatres, laboratories, diagnostic facilities, pharmacies, kitchens, sterilisation equipment, offices, and data infrastructure, each with different operating patterns. Some electrical loads are continuous; others fluctuate according to clinical activity, occupancy, time of day, or season. Future electrification adds another layer. Half-hourly electricity consumption, demand peaks,
existing infrastructure, grid capacity, and development plans all need to be understood.
Solar PV car port being installed on an NHS car park.
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