Words by Smiley Team
In a significant move for healthcare, people and the planet, an NHS hospital in the midlands is ready to source all its energy from solar power.
A solar farm built on a disused landfill will power the New Cross hospital in Wolverhampton, saving between £15-£20 million over the next 20 years.
“That money will be pushed straight back to frontline in terms of healthcare,” Stew Watson, head of estates development at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, told the i.
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Stew added that the trust is working with Wolverhampton City Council to deliver the project, in the hope that every effort to transition to renewables will help limit global warming and the subsequent rise in admissions hospitals are likely to face.
The development will also create green jobs in the local area, helping to tackle unemployment.
The trust’s chief executive, David Loughton, said: “As the largest employer in Wolverhampton, we take sustainability very seriously and are committed to continually working to reduce our carbon footprint.
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“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 to announce this partnership.”
The solar panels will cover the equivalent of 21 football pitches, taking up an unused site called Bowman’s Harbour. Contaminated by methane from a previous landfill, this patch of land runs alongside an industrial estate.
The majority of local residents support the project, with 82% saying they would welcome solar farms in Wolverhampton in a survey by the local council.
