EFFICIENCY IN MEDICAL & EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS
Smart energy management for healthcare and higher education
R Lee Russell, Technical Director, Powerstar
The NHS is committed to becoming the world’s first Net Zero healthcare system by 2040 and, across the UK Higher Education sector, universities are bound by the UK commitment of 2050, but many or most have more ambitious targets. Lee Russell, technical director at Powerstar explains how smart energy management technologies are helping clients in these sectors to achieve their sustainability and efficiency goals
eliable, secure power supply is critical for the NHS, and a traditional Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) has, historically, protected vital pieces of equipment in the event of any
power disruption. However, this solution is becoming increasingly untenable, as the energy transition exacerbates issues of security. Our energy supply is becoming increasingly electrified, and our energy mix is more complex and distributed. The National Grid was designed as a central source of energy dispatch and the shift to smaller- scale generation across distribution networks puts greater stress on localised distribution infrastructure, increasing the risk of power disruption. Where the Grid relies on volatile international gas markets for baseload generation, the knock-on effect for organisations where UPS is the default emergency power solution leaves them exposed to uncertain energy prices and inflexible power supply. A modern battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with UPS can overcome some of the issues experienced with outdated technology, helping to reduce unnecessary emissions while ensuring best value in energy purchase. A traditional UPS relies on lead-acid battery technology. While it will protect individual pieces of equipment in the event of disruption, it sits idle most of the time, but still looses significant capacity. For a typical 1MW system, this can lead to around £200,000 wasted energy per year. At the same time, the UPS will need to be maintained even while not in use, given the alternative of discovering the UPS isn’t functioning at the time it is actually required. By contrast, energy losses for a modern BESS utilising lithium-ion technology are less than 1%, and modern UPS – a BESS with the optimum control system – provides ultra-fast switching to connect the battery to site supply in less than 10ms to protect the site.
For one acute general hospital in South BESS installation
Yorkshire who wanted to supplement their power resilience strategy, the recommended solution was to replace outdated equipment with modern BESS technology. The new batteries are cycled daily, ensuring correct functionality and meeting the minimum NHS requirements of 20 minutes load support in the event of any power disruption. On one day, when the Grid failed twice, the new 500kW / 500kW system was called upon and the BESS seamlessly supported the full load, for 15 seconds in the first instance, and for 23
Voltage optimisation installation
seconds for the second event. In addition to providing the critical power resilience needed for this acute hospital, the improved efficiency of modern BESS is recouping around £225,000 annual energy budget, eliminating approximately 190 tonnes of CO2e, and the Trust is engaging with Grid Services to generate about £100,000 in additional revenue on top of the cost savings.
At another acute hospital, West Middlesex University Hospital, the Estate Managers became aware of voltage optimisation (VO), through discussions with colleagues at other NHS Estates. A transformer-based technology, VO ensures that energy supply from the Grid matches demand from equipment on- site. While most electrical equipment in the UK operates at 220V, Grid supply is often significantly higher – at around 248V. This creates energy wastage and excess emissions, and unnecessary energy spend. Where equipment is operating at a higher than ideal voltage, the stress can cause wear and tear, increasing maintenance demands and, for specialised medical equipment, the costs involved in early replacement can clearly have budgetary implications. VO stabilises incoming voltage, conditioning on-site power for optimum voltage levels. West Middlesex Hospital functions 24/7 and, given the critical nature of the site’s operations, it was vital that installation would not impact on the running of the hospital and that, once installed, the technology
remained fail-safe to avoid any potential disruption to patient care. Implementing VO is saving 8.4% in annual energy consumption, and reducing emissions by 163.3 tonnes per annum.
Sustainability in universities
Looking to the Higher Education sector, Powerstar have implemented VO technology to help institutions meet their sustainability and efficiency goals. The University of Surrey is committed to achieving Net Zero on its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 and has developed a plan specific to its Scope 3 indirect emission reduction. They specialise in energy economics research, with a dedicated Institute for Sustainability, and so are especially knowledgeable about energy saving technologies available. With the dual requirements of energy
reduction and return on investment stipulated by the University, Powerstar conducted a full site survey, and recommended VO, demonstrating the expected savings that this technology would offer to meet these requirements. Installation of VO has reduced the University’s energy usage by 8.1%, equating to 189.747kWh per year.
The University of Bristol has similar commitments, building on the legacy of Bristol Green Capital and working to become a net zero campus by 2030, with a Carbon Management Plan looking at Scope 3 emissions. Given the varied range of equipment and buildings’ usage on-site, with long operational hours, VO was considered as an energy saving option. A full survey of the site’s voltage profile indicated a number of areas across the university infrastructure where voltage was high, but relatively stable. Installation of 22 VO systems has reduced incoming voltage supplies varying from 7.5V up to 17.5V, producing an average consumption saving of 5.2%. After the initial installation, a further evaluation of potential for savings led to retrofit upgrades to eight of the units, with dynamic voltage optimisation to help address fluctuating voltage supply. These have led to a further, additional 4.8% for the incoming affected supplies. Ultimately, the UK is still committed to a 2050 Net Zero target, and the NHS and universities have even more ambitious targets: to achieve sustainability goals, while ensuring secure and reliable power, and maximising efficiency to benefit stakeholders and the general public, alike. When outdated energy management technologies are replaced with modern alternatives, the emission reduction and cost- savings can be immediate, and compelling.
20 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JUNE 2025 Read the latest at:
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