Veolia’s specialist energy team has commissioned a new Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Rotherham Hospital as part of a 20-year Energy Performance Contract.
The 500kWh storage capacity will contribute to targeted savings of over £1 million per year, provide an energy income, increase resilience of the energy supply, and enable the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust to cut carbon emissions by 49,620 tonnes.
The Energy Performance Contract used by the Trust is the NHS standard performance contract, managed, procured, financed and monitored for its lifetime by the Carbon and Energy Fund.
The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is made up of multiple battery cells that store electrical energy produced for use at a later time. The technology enables the hospital to take advantage of reduced electricity bills by discharging power, when the demand is highest, which reduces imported electrical consumption and peak electrical import charges.
Because of the system’s reaction speed, and fast acting controls, it provides continuous stability for the National Grid by adjusting power flows at each millisecond to balance the surplus or lack of energy on the network.
Engineered into the electrical infrastructure and CHP system, the BESS enables the hospital to gain income from the grid by exporting power when there is less power being generated than used by consumers, and also for absorbing power when more power is being generated than is being used by consumers. This reduces electrical bills via the BESS’s ability to discharge power at these key times and reduce imported electrical consumption and import charges. This adds to the financial benefit gained from the fast frequency response through grid stabilisation.
John Abraham, COO Veolia UK & Ireland – Industrial, Water & Energy – said: “Achieving net zero carbon will require a sustainable energy supply that can replicate and replace fossil fuelled power stations. To do this we believe flexibility and demand management of decentralized energy is the key to addressing this issue. Backed by the energy saving upgrades that are part of the energy performance contract, the new BESS at Rotherham Hospital is another key step in achieving this goal, and helps the NHS to become more sustainable and focus budgets on patient care.”
