Work has started on a multi-million-pound development that will significantly reduce the risk of power failures at Swansea’s Morriston Hospital.
The problem lies with two electrical substations which fully complied with British Standards when installed in the 1980s.
However, they required urgent investment as hospital services grew in size and complexity.
This left them at risk of overloading, potentially disrupting vital clinical locations such as theatres, theatre recovery areas, and radiology services.
Now work is under way on a new substation, funded by the Welsh Government and fully compliant with all technical standards.
The development, which has a total cost of around £16.5m, is slowly taking shape on land owned by the health board opposite the main hospital site in Mynydd Gelliwastad Road.
It is expected to go live at the end of this year, significantly reducing the risks presented by the two aging substations.
The investment will also address issues at the hospital sterilisation and decontamination unit, where ventilation levels have been running at 50% of the required rate.
The switch-on of the new substation will divert services from the two existing ones, providing greater all-round resilience for all services within Morriston Hospital
Mark Parsons, Swansea Bay University Health Board’s assistant director of strategy, said: “The health board has long recognised that there was a potential risk associated with the two electrical substations.
“Last year we submitted a business case to the Welsh Government, which supported it and has provided the funding.
“The scheme has now commenced and will be completed by the end of this year, providing even greater resilience for Morriston Hospital.”
The health board is at the forefront of the NHS decarbonisation efforts and the new substation will help take this further by linking to Morriston Hospital’s solar farm at nearby Brynwhillach Farm, which the health board hopes to expand and introduce battery storage to further reduce electricity costs.
It will also support the reduction of carbon emissions by offering six electric vehicle charging points.
Parsons added: “The switch-on of the new substation will divert services from the two existing ones, providing greater all-round resilience for all services within Morriston Hospital.”