ENERGY GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT
Power no longer need be a fixed cost commodity
Having celebrated its 70th birthday last year, the NHS is facing pressure to cut costs and improve efficiency, but the potential to drive these changes through energy management is often overlooked, argues Tony Orton, head of Healthcare Business Development at international energy and services company, Centrica Business Solutions. Here he examines ‘how innovative energy systems could drive change and make a lasting difference’.
The NHS is undoubtedly one of the world’s leading healthcare organisations, but there is increasing pressure from UK government for it to increase its efficiency and cut its operational costs. In its 2015 financial settlement for the NHS, the government stated that the NHS needs to save almost £22 billion by 2020 – around a 2-3 per cent saving every year. These are ambitious targets, and mean that every element of the NHS’s management and services needs to be reviewed. One area where the service can make quick wins is in improved energy management.
The size of the prize
The NHS currently spends more than £6.5 billion per year maintaining and running its estate and facilities. With energy making up around £500 million of this bill, there is an opportunity for real savings to be made. Lord Carter of Coles’ 2016 report, Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations, analysed where the NHS could make savings and improve efficiencies. It identified energy as one of the main areas where reductions could be made, and recommended solutions such as LED lighting, combined heat and power (CHP) units, and ‘smart’ energy management systems.
The report estimated that if all NHS Trusts installed these solutions, the saving
The Royal Stoke University Hospital, where Centrica Business Solutions has installed a new CHP unit, decommissioning the hospital’s old system.
could be in the region of £125 million a year. Yet this could be just scratching the surface.
Our research at Centrica into how much NHS Trusts could save if outdated and inefficient energy systems were updated found that if only 50 per cent of Trusts made these changes, they could save a combined £130 million each year – the equivalent of hiring around 4,000 new nurses.
Harnessing the power of digital If healthcare providers adopt new technology and ‘harness the power of digital’ it can turn energy consumption into a strategic business advantage. Power no longer needs to be a fixed
Emissions reduced at Royal Stoke
Royal Stoke University Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford provide healthcare services to approximately 9,000 people, which means their energy consumption is consistently high.
To lower carbon emissions, the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust worked with Centrica Business Solutions to install a new combined heat and power unit on the Royal Stoke University Hospital site in Stoke, decommissioning its old system. The 1.2 megawatt CHP is now helping reduce the hospital’s carbon emissions by almost 2,792 tonnes a year – ‘almost 8 per cent of the Trust’s current carbon output, and equivalent in environmental benefit of removing 991 cars from the road’.
cost commodity – it can be a driver of efficiency and operational success. But which systems can help?
Combined heat and power (CHP) units A CHP is one of the most popular distributed energy solutions. Powered by an engine, a CHP converts a single fuel into power and heat simultaneously on site. CHP units, which typically use low- priced and widely available natural gases as fuel, are linked to a generator to produce electricity. Heat is recovered from the engine’s exhaust, jacket, and water and oil cooling circuit at the same time, providing an instant and cost- efficient heat supply. As it generates its own energy, CHP technology can provide reliable and efficient power supply to hospitals that ensures resilience and reduces the healthcare sector’s reliance on the Grid.
Once installed, CHPs can lower energy bills by up to 40 per cent, and cut carbon emissions by up to 30 per cent. They also have a typical lifespan of up to 15 years.
Smart sensors
Hospitals are often large and complex estates. As such, it can be difficult to know what is really going on across sites – particularly when it comes to energy consumption – as there might be
May 2019 Health Estate Journal 57
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