Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has managed to reduce its business energy costs by implementing energy efficiency measures and installing a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ had been spending around £10 million a year on energy and this figure was only going to go up as business electricity and gas prices increased. The CHP and energy efficiency measures have not only reduced business energy costs by around £2.95m a year but carbon emissions have also been reduced by around 16,000 tonnes.
The Trust has installed two 3MW combined heat and power engines, one at each site. The Trust’s Sustainability manager, Alexandra Hammond, said “We did look at alternatives such as wind turbines, but it quickly became clear that in terms of both financial and carbon savings, CHP was the most effective choice. It doesn’t work for everyone, as you have to have space as well as demand for energy throughout the day and night, but our sites were very well suited to it”.
The CHP plants provide the hospitals with all their heat and hot water during the summer and 50% of the heat they need during the winter. The plants also generate around 50% of their electricity requirements.
But it’s not just the CHP plants which have helped to reduce costs. Duplicated facilities were assessed and as a result kitchen equipment is only used on one site and refrigeration equipment is set to be upgraded.
Lighting has also been changed in the fifteen miles of corridors which make up the two hospitals. More energy efficient lighting has been installed and in some areas sensors have been added so that lights go off if they are not needed. Heating and lighting controls have also been improved and there are plans to improve the windows.
But according to the Sustainability Manager there are things that the staff can help with such as switching off printers and turning off lights. As The Hub has mentioned in its business energy saving tips, simply switching off computers, photocopiers and monitors can significantly help to reduce business energy costs.
The work done at Guy’s and St Thomas’ shows that energy efficiency measures can really help to reduce business energy costs. While it’s not feasible for all businesses to install a CHP plant it is possible to improve energy efficiency. So no matter how big or small your business you can reduce business energy costs.
