A 1.4MW combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plant has been installed at St Bartholomew's Hospital, in London
Combined heat and power (CHP) could save the NHS £26.4m per year by 2020, according to a new report.
Securing Healthy Returns, published by the Sustainable Development Unit for NHS England and Public Health England, also states that CHP has the potential to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 3,750 tonnes per year. However, its authors acknowledge that, from 2021, gas CHP is expected to be a higher carbon emitter than grid electricity. The report analysed 35 measures that it says could save £400m and reduce carbon emissions by one million tonnes every year by 2020.
Of the 18 energy-saving measures covered in the report, CHP offers the highest annual potential cost savings, followed by: staff energy awareness and behaviour change (£21.5m); high-efficiency lighting (£7.2m); and reducing temperature set points by 1°C (£6.2m).
