Hospital solar farm officially opened

A solar farm powering New Cross Hospital has been officially opened, marking a major step in The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s (RWT) commitment to cutting carbon emissions.

The Bowman’s Harbour Solar Farm, on the former Bowman’s Harbour landfill site in Wednesfield, was developed through a partnership between RWT, Vital Energi and City of Wolverhampton Council.

The 11-hectare site, equivalent to around 22 football pitches, has been transformed from a brownfield site into a renewable energy source.

It features 15,200 solar panels and provides around 75 per cent of New Cross’s annual electricity demand, giving the hospital approximately 289 days of self-generated energy each year.

It is also delivers an annual carbon reduction of around 1,450 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e).

Thanks to the amount of sunshine experienced this year, the solar farm has supplied the entire New Cross Hospital site during the summer, helping the Trust reduce its reliance on electricity from the national grid.

The project is expected to save the Trust an estimated £15 million to £20 million over 20 years, money which can be invested in frontline healthcare and patient services.

Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE, Chair of RWT, said: “It is a real pleasure to be here today to officially open the solar farm at New Cross, and to recognise what is an important milestone in our Trust’s commitment to sustainability.

“As an NHS Trust, our first responsibility is, of course, to provide the best possible care for our patients. But we also have a responsibility to think about the environment in which we deliver that care, and the impact we have on the planet. This has been brought into even sharper focus during the heatwave conditions we have experienced recently.

“I want to thank everyone who has helped make this solar farm a reality – our estates and facilities teams, our sustainability and energy colleagues, our partners and contractors, and everyone across the Trust who is helping us change the way we use energy.

“This is something we should be proud of as we continue to work to do even more.”

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, Cabinet Member for City Transport at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “It is wonderful to see how what was once a former landfill site has been given a new purpose, generating clean renewable energy that is helping to power New Cross Hospital and I am proud of the role the council has played in bringing this to fruition.

“This supports our ambition to create a cleaner, greener and more sustainable Wolverhampton by working with all sectors and the Bowman’s Harbour Solar Farm is a fantastic example of partnership working at its best.”