New funding has been awarded to the Trust from Great British Energy, saving money and supporting investment into frontline care.

Following a competitive bidding process, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) has been successfully awarded a total of £2,7000,000 to install solar panels at two hospital sites within the Trust. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero recently announced a package of £100 million from Great British Energy for the NHS to install solar power and battery storage solutions, helping to drive down energy bills, offering better value for the taxpayer. 

Solar panels will now be installed at both University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.

Ben Maguire, Associate Director of Finance for Strategy and Commercial at LGT, said: “Reducing our energy costs and being more environmentally friendly go hand-in-hand both here, and across the wider NHS, and this is a big step in the right direction, demonstrating our commitment to deliver on our Green Plan ambitions.”

The Trust says that these investments into renewable energy generation will deliver reductions in energy costs that can be redirected into front line care. The new solar panel installation projects are expected to deliver savings – across the NHS – of around £8.6 million a year, and up to £260 million over the panels’ lifetime.

Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS England, Chris Gormley said: “Thanks to the dedication of teams nationwide, the NHS has already implemented hundreds of projects that enhance energy efficiency and drive significant cost savings. This groundbreaking new investment, across 78 NHS Trusts on around 200 sites, will expand solar power generation within the NHS by over 300 per cent, slashing energy costs by hundreds of millions of pounds. These vital savings can be reinvested directly into frontline care, ensuring the NHS continues to deliver for our patients and communities.”

Ben Maguire added “A huge thank you to everyone involved in putting our bids together to secure LGT this funding. It’s a fantastic addition to the sustainability and savings programmes that so many colleagues are working on across our Trust. We’ll share more information soon on when work is starting to install the panels and the savings we’ll be generating as this very exciting project gets underway.”

Find out more about the sustainability work happening across LGT – along with the wider ambitions for the NHS – at: https://www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk/energysustainability