Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has been successful in securing nearly £25m of grant funding as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. This will enable the Trust to replace aged gas and coal fired boilers that provide heating and energy for the City Hospital with more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, resulting in a carbon footprint of the site14,000 tCO lower compared to the 2015 baseline.
The scheme, which is administered by Salix on behalf of the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), provides funding to public sector organisations to help them play their part in reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change.
The project will be delivered by Vital Energi through the Carbon and Energy Fund Framework. The works will include the demolition of the old laundry, at the heart of the City Hospital site, opening the area up for future development, as well as construction of a new energy centre which will be equipped with combined heat and power units to provide heating and electricity for the hospital. The funding will also pay for the installation of other energy efficiency and carbon reduction measures such as LED lighting, photo voltaic panels and air-source heat source pumps around the City Hospital.
Andrew Chatten, Director of Estates and Facilities at NUH said: “It’s fantastic news that we’ve been successful in securing this grant funding. We have long wanted to replace the old, inefficient gas-fired boilers on the City Hospital site, and remove the coal fired boilers which were also very damaging for the environment and costly to run. The energy efficient measures we will be able to install in their place will quickly pay for themselves, generating energy savings of around £1.8m per year.”
“We are committed to doing everything possible to reduce our carbon footprint, and to upgrade our ageing hospital estate, which costs a lot to maintain and makes it much harder for us to deliver the outstanding patient care to which we aspire. This funding is a real step forward in helping us make City Hospital more energy efficient.”
Sameen Khan, NHS Programme Manager for Salix Finance added: “We are pleased that we can support NUH and be a partner in their landmark project. Their commitment to improving their patient care, facilities, reducing their carbon footprint and considering the impact they were having on the environment, has been emphasised from the onset of their funding application and relationship with Salix. We are proud to be a part of NUH’s journey towards a low-carbon future.”
In addition, NUH is one of the Trusts set to receive Government funding in the second wave of the Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) which focuses on hospital building projects between now and 2030. Through its ‘Tomorrow’s NUH’ programme, the Trust is working with partners across the local healthcare system to develop ambitious plans for renovating and redeveloping its hospitals, and will continue to engage with staff, stakeholders, patients and the wider public over the coming months to ensure Nottingham benefits from environments that support effective and efficient patient care long into the future.
