NHS trust receives £1.3m grant for solar panels

An NHS trust has secured more than £1.3m of government funding to install solar panels at two hospitals.

University Hospitals Dorset estimates the new panels at Poole Hospital and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital will save the trust £177,000 in energy costs.

The funding is part of the first load of nationwide investment from Great British Energy, the government's new state-owned energy company.

NHS England said the "groundbreaking" investment would result in the "slashing of energy costs" across the health service by "hundreds of millions of pounds".

Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS England Chris Gormley said: "These vital savings can be reinvested directly into front line care, ensuring the NHS continues to deliver for our patients and communities."

University Hospitals Dorset said its grant would fully fund solar panels on multi-storey car parks.

The panels are guaranteed for 15 years, meaning the trust would save at least £2.5m in energy costs over the life of the project, it said.

The installation will take place this summer and will contribute around 200 tonnes of carbon savings each year, the trust added.

Stuart Lane, sustainability and carbon manager at the trust, said the funding was a "real boost" to its environmental plans, as well as being good for its finances.

"We have also commissioned several other solar panel projects and this funding will accelerate the pace at which we can meet the full potential of solar generated on our sites, meaning we are a step close to our net zero targets and redirecting energy costs to patient care," he added.

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