Hospitals improve cost and environmental performance - Ener-G Group

March 24, 2010 - PRLog -- Among hospitals that are reaping the benefits of advanced CHP technology is Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, where an award-winning low carbon ‘trigeneration’ energy centre is achieving exceptional environmental performance and cost savings.

http://www.energ.co.uk

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has implemented an ambitious £5m energy efficiency programme at Birmingham Heartlands, a major general hospital in Bordesley Green, east Birmingham, that has reduced its primary energy consumption by 21%; CO2 emissions by 42%; and utility spend by 24%.

The centre, which was designed, constructed, operated and financed by clean technology business ENER·G, is reducing the hospital’s CO2 emissions by more than 5,600 tonnes this year, which equates to the environmental benefit of 560,000 trees. Emissions of other harmful green house gases, such as Sulphur Dioxide, have also been reduced. In addition, ENER·G has guaranteed £688,000 costs savings each year.

CHP technology converts gas into both electricity and heat in a single process at the point of use. The technology works by generating electricity on-site and recovering the majority of the heat created in the process, in contrast to conventional power stations where heat is simply wasted into the atmosphere through power station cooling towers.

In addition, significant amounts of energy are lost along the many miles of electrical distribution cables needed to bring the power to site. CHP is greener and more efficient because it generates electricity on-site, using the heat created by the process to provide heating, steam and hot water. Trigeneration CHP harnesses an extra level of technology by incorporating an absorption cooling system to deliver chilled water for air conditioning in the summer months.

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The technology is ideal for applications with consistent demands for thermal energy and considerable electrical base loads, including large general hospitals.

The new Energy Centre at Birmingham Heartlands accommodates an 1,165 kilowatt CHP unit that uses an MTU gas engine. Chosen due to its compact and efficient design, this is capable of producing steam and is connected to the hospital’s main heating system. This unit is also connected to a 300 kilowatt absorption chiller to produce chilled water from waste heat in the warmer months.

This means the existing electrically powered chillers will run much less frequently during the summer and that spare cooling capacity can be used to provide air conditioning to areas of the hospital which had not previously benefited from this.

Work has also been carried out to upgrade lighting with 1800 high efficiency, low energy fittings, which also further reduce emissions and energy costs.

CHP systems from ENER·G are available from 4kW to 10MW. Typical applications run on natural gas, although systems can also be fuelled by biogas, propane, diesel or bio-diesel.

In the range up to 2MWe capacity; units can be delivered and packaged as a single unit with the controls, heat recovery units and engine within neat, compact, acoustically insulated enclosures suitable for either internal of external installation. Above 1MWe, each one of ENER·G’s cogeneration units is bespoke, with the engine and system carefully designed to meet each specific application.

Commenting on the environmental and cost benefits of trigeneration CHP, Robert Anderson, Trust Facilities Operations Director said: “Our vision is to make sustainability a core activity in planning and managing the Trust’s estate. As participants in the Carbon Trust-supported NHS Carbon Management Programme, we have a robust, Board-endorsed Carbon Management Plan which commits us to a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2012/13.

http://www.energ.co.uk/chp

“Trigeneration CHP plants are key to achieving our planned saving of over 44,000 tonnes of CO2 and capturing savings of £5m over the lifetime of the plan. The guaranteed cash savings built into our partnership with ENER·G allow us to plan our energy budgets with much more confidence and stability.”

The innovative CHP scheme at Birmingham Heartlands won the Combined Heat and Power Association’s Sustainable Development Award last year. The top industry accolade recognises the CHP scheme that has had the greatest impact in meeting the sustainable development goals of a commercial or public sector organisation.

Combined Heat and Power Association President Lord Whitty, who opened the Birmingham Heartlands Energy Centre, said: “This innovative trigeneration project at Birmingham Heartlands is a vivid and impressive illustration of how CHP can be used as the cornerstone of long-term public/private partnerships that deliver measurable environmental, economic and operational benefits.

“The role of the NHS in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is difficult to overstate. As a contributor of some three per cent of England’s total carbon dioxide emissions, there is a compelling need to harness effective carbon abatement strategies, not least CHP.”

Lord Whitty added: “The Trust and its partner, ENER·G, are to be applauded for developing and delivering a system that brings these multiple advantages to the local community here in Birmingham.”

As well as installing and operating the trigeneration CHP system, ENER·G financed the programme which is structured around a 15-year public/private partnership contract and includes a £403,000 grant from the Carbon Trust under the government’s Community Energy Programme.

The agreement provides the NHS Foundation Trust with a guaranteed level of performance and savings over the contract lifetime.

The new Energy Centre replaced ageing coal-fired boilers. Work carried out by ENER·G involved switching fuel from coal to natural gas, including a new gas main; replacing heating mains and upgrading numerous plant rooms. A 1164kWe CHP unit and 300 kW absorption chillers were installed.

Other major general hospitals to have implemented ENER·G’s cleaner, greener CHP technology are Solihull Hospital, also managed by Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

An £5.7 million green energy system is being installed at Solihull Hospital, with projected annual savings of £293,000 and a 45% reduction in carbon emissions.

The CHP system will enable the hospital to generate its own electricity, cutting annual C02 emissions by 1,920 tonnes. Construction work on the site in Lode Lane, Solihull, started recently and is expected to be finished by early 2010.

Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust has also switched on new CHP technology at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital that will cut £2 million off the Trust’s energy bills. The savings will enable the hospital to spend more on frontline patient services.

The combined heat and power system will also mean big reductions in the Trust’s carbon emissions, a factor that has led to the Carbon Trust awarding a grant of £549,000 – the maximum grant available.

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At ENER·G we acknowledge the importance of the energy industry in our lives and the impact it has on the environment.

ENER·G takes an environmentally and socially responsible view on the generation and consumption of energy. We are also firm believers in retaining its commercial viability.

Our four offerings, Cogeneration, Renewable Energy, Energy Management and Energy from Waste provide an energy solution for all businesses and industry types. It also allows ENER·G to offer a one stop shop for all commercial and industrial energy requirements. From the efficient generation of energy to the equally efficient control of consumption.

Our solid financial status gives us the freedom to be 100% dedicated to the development of our products and markets. Over the years, ENER·G has grown organically and via acquisition to achieve a strong global presence today.