Centrica Business Solutions has partnered with edie to publish a new guide to affordable decarbonisation in the NHS.
The new report ‘To net-zero and beyond in the NHS’ explores how to accelerate carbon reduction across healthcare estates – without disrupting patient services.
Examine the challenges & opportunities and the methods Trust can use to deliver on their decarbonisation goals. Discover the essential steps to turning net-zero goals into affordable action across your healthcare estate.
Writing for the report, Centrica Business Solutions’ Phil Bryant explores how Trusts can turn their sustainability ambitions into action by taking a 4-step pathway to net zero. You can read his viewpoint below:
NHS Trusts are leading the way on decarbonisation, despite severe financial pressures. But further urgent action is needed to reach 2040 net zero and cut emissions by 80% before 2032.
The good news is that cost and carbon reduction work together, enabling you to find the ‘sweet spots’ to affordably achieve your net-zero goals.
Download NHS net-zero report
Our approach to affordable net-zero
Every NHS Trust is different and there’s lots of different ways to achieve net zero. But we typically support our customers along an incremental 4-step pathway of Plan, Cut, Convert and Complete.
Step 1: Plan
At the initial project planning and coordination stage, we will typically baseline your carbon emissions and work with you to develop a costed net-zero roadmap and timeline. We’ll also help manage your financing needs, as well as planning and consent permissions.
Step 2: Cut energy demand via efficiencies
Our internet-of-things (IoT) energy insights technology enables you to take energy efficiency much further. By attaching our non-disruptive, wireless sensors to energy intensive equipment and using our PowerRadar™ management platform to analyse and visualise your estate-wide data, you have complete vision of your energy performance.
This will inform your sustainable energy strategy and reveal opportunities to make big savings.
London’s St George’s NHS Hospital is saving £15m in energy costs via our integrated energy saving solutions.
Step 3: Convert your estate to support renewables
The next step is to install on-site generation for fast and effective cost and carbon reduction and to protect your site from high, unpredictable energy prices. Hydrogen-ready CHP systems, that can reduce costs by up to 40%, can rapidly switch from natural gas fuel to low and zero carbon hydrogen as the network develops.
Many Trusts are installing 100% renewable solar PV, with some combining battery storage systems for even bigger savings and to provide green back-up power and unlock flexibility revenues.
Generating and storing solar power can also reduce the cost of installing electric vehicle charging points and zero carbon heat pumps, which are a key technology in helping Trusts to reduce spend and improve energy resilience.
Our £4.7m energy upgrade at Hereford County Hospital includes rooftop solar, together with a new ground source heat pump network and other efficiency improvements.
Step 4: Complete your journey using off-site renewable energy supply
Complete your net zero journey by purchasing green energy or use Renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to decarbonise your remaining emissions.
We’ve helped NHS Property Services (NHSPS) to switch its entire property portfolio (10% of the entire NHS estate) to 100% certified renewable energy.
Flexible funding
As approved suppliers to public sector grant programmes and procurement frameworks, such as the Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF), Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), we accelerate project delivery within tight deadlines. We also directly finance complex integrated energy saving projects as a coordinated package via an OPEX model – often with guaranteed savings.
Partner with us
With 35-years’ experience as delivery partners to healthcare estates, we’ll support you along the best energy pathway that’s both environmentally and economically viable. We have vast experience of developing and managing multi asset, large and complex estate-wide projects – completing more than 150 such integrated energy infrastructure schemes.
Download the edie guide to cost effective net zero delivery in the NHS
N.B. The information contained in this entry is provided by the above supplier, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher
