Fairfield Hospital gets £2.4m heat and power overhaul
Gas low-pressure hot water system and Combined Heat and Power unit to be installed in effort to reduce carbon emissions and cut costs
Work has started on a £2.4m project to install a new gas hot water system at Fairfield Hospital.
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been successful in its bid for funding from the Government’s Energy Fund to replace the hospital’s ageing coal-fired steam boiler plant with a more environmentally-friendly replacement.
As a result a gas low-pressure hot water system and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit will be in place at the site by the end of July next year.
Trust bosses expect the modernisation will cut operational costs and reduce carbon emissions from the hospital grounds by 53%.
It will also release savings of about £600,000 a year for re-investment in patient services.
John Wilkes, director of facilities at the trust, said: “This is excellent news, not only for the staff and the patients who we treat here at Fairfield Hospital, but foor the local population and communities surrounding the hospital site.
“As you would imagine, the running of hospitals is very expensive, not only in maintenance, but in power.
“Not only will the new gas boiler be much more efficient; it will bring other benefits by helping to provide a cleaner site by removing the soot and coal dust emissions from the existing boiler plant.”
