CHP unit for Manchester hospital

Fairfield General Hospital, in Bury, Greater Manchester, is to cut carbon emissions by some 700 tonnes per year thanks to the installation of a new CHP unit supplied and commissioned by Cogenco. The CHP unit forms part of a new gas hot water system that will replace the hospital’s ageing coal-fired steam boiler plant. The scheme will reduce emissions from the Fairfield site by 53% and release savings in the order of £600,000 per year for reinvestment in patient services.

Cogenco, Veolia’s small-scale CHP division, will supply and commission the 520 kWe CHP unit under a £250,000 contract for Ellesmere Engineering, the design and build contractor overseeing the replacement of the coal-fired steam system. ‘We’ve opted to replace the old system with gas-fired plant, including the CHP unit from Cogenco. A low pressure hot water ring main will supply 13 remote plant rooms, doing away with the steam-fed calorifiers Fairfield has at the moment,’ explained Paul Garnett, Director at Ellesmere Engineering.

‘This latest success highlights the effectiveness of CHP units in hospitals – Cogenco has now supplied over 70 units to healthcare facilities,’ said Stuart Metcalfe, Business Development Manager at Cogenco. ‘We are seeing many Trusts move away from coal and steam in hospitals as the carbon reduction and running cost savings can be significant.’

Veolia is also working with minerals company Sibelco to supply CHP technology to its quarrying site in Ivybridge, South Devon. The site has been equipped with a 1.4 MWe CHP system to generate electricity and provide heat for processing a range of materials. The installation is expected to achieve a 10% reduction of the group’s overall emissions.