A £5.9m project to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy resilience is underway at Ealing Hospital in west London. The work is expected to cut carbon emissions by around 900 tonnes per year and deliver financial saving of over £260K per year.
Ealing Hospital is busy district general hospital in Southall west London, run by North West London University Healthcare NHS Trust. The Trust is working with Vital Energi to design and install the major infrastructure upgrade needed to reduce emissions.
The decarbonisation works at Ealing Hospital are expected to complete by April 2027.
At the heart of the scheme is a 1MW air-to-water source heat pump system, designed to meet the fluctuating heating and cooling demands of a hospital environment. The cascading configuration of the heat pumps ensures enhanced reliability and redundancy, which is critical for maintaining stable conditions in sensitive areas such as operating theatres and intensive care units.
Energy conservation measures include upgrades to pipework and roof insulation, secondary side modifications to improve system efficiency, and upgrades to the Building Management System (BMS), including integration with Vital View for advanced monitoring and performance optimisation.
A 100.35kWp solar PV array, comprising 223 panels installed across available roof spaces, will further contribute to the hospital’s renewable energy generation.
In addition, three aging gas boilers will be removed and replaced with three 1,500kW low temperature hot water (LTHW) boilers. The new LTHW system has been designed with future compatibility in mind, ensuring it is ready to integrate with potential heat networks should they become available in the area.
The project is being funded through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. The delivery and administrative body for the scheme is Salix.
A ‘groundbreaking’ event was held on the 20 March to formally mark the start of works. Amongst those present was Cllr Paul Driscoll, Ealing Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Action. Cllr Driscoll added: “We are committed to making Ealing a carbon neutral borough by 2030. I am therefore delighted to learn of the decarbonising work underway at Ealing Hospital, which will make a significant contribution to our commitments. The climate crisis is one of the defining issues of our time and our local NHS Trust is demonstrating that we all need to play our part.”
The Carbon and Energy Fund Framework (CEF) is a specialised procurement framework that supports complex energy upgrades across the public sector. CEF project manager Will Fairclough said: “The project work at Ealing includes crucial resilience upgrade works for the hospital, which will significantly improve its energy efficiency. The project team at Salix and Vital Energi are bringing innovation to Ealing Hospital and look forward to integrating future technologies into the Trust’s estate.”
