Spring date set for solar farm

Date of release: 6 March 2024

A solar farm which will power Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital for three quarters of the year is set to be up and running this spring.

From left to right: Jon Gwynn, Ashley Malin, Professor David Loughton CBE, and Stew Watson

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) in partnership with City of Wolverhampton Council, has built the solar farm at a former landfill site the size of 22 football pitches, adjacent to Bentley Way, Wednesfield. It is set to open in April.

The facility will power the entire hospital site with self-generated renewable energy for around 288 days a year.

This will save the Trust around £15-20 million over the next 20 years – money which will be put back into frontline healthcare.

It will produce 6.9MWp of renewable energy to New Cross Hospital and will generate an estimated carbon saving of 1,583 tonnes of CO2e per annum.

More than 15,000 electricity generating solar panels have been installed at the site by main contractor Vital Energi.

Work to secure the 40-plus acre brownfield site included protecting badger setts, and removing methane.

The project, combined with existing green technologies, allows the Trust to move away from reliance on the national grid and to reduce its exposure to rising electricity costs in the next two decades.

It also supports the Trust’s goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 25 per cent by 2025, and of reaching ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2040.

Stew Watson, Director of Estates Development at RWT, said: “This investment is a huge boost to help us achieve that.

“Our primary focus is always on the patient and these works ensure the Trust saves money on future energy bills, which we can then subsequently invest across other healthcare services.”

Professor David Loughton CBE, Group Chief Executive at RWT, said: “As the largest employer in Wolverhampton, we take sustainability very seriously and are committed to continually working to reduce our carbon footprint.

“We have taken a number of steps to reduce and better manage our energy consumption and operate in a sustainable manner.

“One of these steps is to look at using renewable energy so we are very pleased the development will be opening soon and delighted at the way the partnerships have worked out.”

Ashley Malin, Managing Director at Vital Energi, added: “We’re delighted to have transformed a former coal mine and landfill site into this impressive solar farm, which is the largest single source of green energy on a hospital site within the UK.

“The clean energy will power the air source heat pumps within the hospital, and significantly reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint.”

Work has also been completed on the underground cabling to connect the hospital to the solar farm.

RWT has received around £15m in grant funding for the project. This comprised contributions from the government’s Levelling-Up fund, the NHS and Salix Finance, a government-funded body.

The Trust also received a further £33m to carry out green energy works as part of the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

David Mackey, Chief Executive of the Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF) which was co-created with the Department of Health allowing different parts of the public sector and NHS to work together, said: “From the initial concept with the City of Wolverhampton Council to viability and Trust approval, contractor procurement, funding acquisition, technical assistance, project management and successful completion of the scheme, it’s been a pleasure to support the Trust in achieving its net-zero goal.”

During the council’s climate change consultation, 82 per cent of residents said they would welcome solar farms in Wolverhampton.

Councillor Craig Collingswood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “We have worked hard in partnership with the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to bring this project to fruition on land that has been disused for years.

“This pioneering solar farm in Wolverhampton demonstrates our commitment to tackling climate change which is critical to protect our planet for generations to come.

“Since declaring our Climate Emergency in July 2019, the council has been supporting its partners towards making Wolverhampton zero carbon.

“I’m pleased to see the council supporting the local hospital in achieving its ambitions to reduce carbon emissions in the city. The new solar farm development will certainly have a positive impact in making Wolverhampton a greener city.”

ENDS

• For further information, please call Tim Nash on 07714 741097 or email tim.nash2@nhs.net