energy Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd

Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd Energy Management Summit | Forum Events Ltd

Posts Tagged :

energy

Oldham Council plans to slash CO2 emissions with solar farm

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

A solar farm that could reduce CO2 emissions by 50 tonnes each year and save money on energy bills has been approved by Oldham Council’s cabinet.

The Council will own and potentially fund the solar farm on a former landfill site at Wrigley Head in Failsworth.

Savings could be made on Council energy bills as well as the farm generating a significant amount of renewable energy – contributing towards us achieving the ambitious carbon neutrality targets in our Green New Deal Strategy which forms part of our Creating a Better Place ambitions.

The council’s Creating a Better Place programme is creating a borough for the future where people will want to live, work, visit and socialise.

Wrigley Head Solar Farm would also improve the site in terms of biodiversity via wildflower planting and other measures, and it already has planning permission.

Cllr Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Low Carbon, said: “This is another exciting project that we’re delivering to enhance life for people living, working and visiting Oldham while doing what is best with our funds and the environment.

“We are already making huge headway with our Creating a Better Place programme, creating an Oldham where people will want to live, work, visit and socialise.

“We need more projects that give us power from renewable sources and saw it as vital to review Wrigley Head, which had been paused during the pandemic when energy prices dropped due to the lockdown on the economy.

“Energy prices are now much higher and are likely to stay high for the next few years at least, which means we can now return to looking at the scheme.

“We said that if the business case stacked up that we would go ahead and careful work has demonstrated that this will now help us reduce energy bills and carbon emissions alongside contributing to our carbon neutrality targets we have for Council buildings and street lights.

“At the same time, we will improve what was once an industrial landfill site and there will be wildflower planting, invasive species like Japanese knotweed will be removed and we will maintain access through the site for wild animals.”

Cabinet, at its meeting on Monday 23 January agreed to a model where the council owns and funds Wrigley Head Solar Farm and allocates £1.35m for the construction.

Previously, grants had been available to fund construction and it is possible that grants may be available again, which would reduce the budget we need to make available for the build.

Additionally, it should also contribute to achieving the Greater Manchester target of an extra 4.5 megawatt (MW) of solar power by 2025 as set out in the five-year environment plan.

The specification of the project was set in 2019 when the original feasibility work was done – it is possible that with improvements in technology, the scheme could achieve 1 MW of generating capacity.

In spring 2020, the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and national lockdown on the economy meant that the long-term outlook for wholesale electricity prices was revised downwards and the solar farm no longer showed a viable business case at that stage.

The energy crisis and increasing costs prompted Cabinet members to return to the proposals during 2022.

The cabinet paper can be seen in full here.

IT service providers actively targeting ESG opportunities

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

IT services providers that are expanding their portfolios to target environmental, social and governance (ESG) opportunities are making a wise move as many enterprises require assistance developing and implementing ESG-related initiatives, says GlobalData.

The leading data and analytics company notes that these companies must continue to adapt to shifting market dynamics to stay ahead of the curve.

According to a recent GlobalData survey, 34% of respondents indicate that their company has made adjustments to its ESG initiatives in the last 12 months.

Rena Bhattacharyya, Service Director for Enterprise Technology and Services at GlobalData, said: “For the most part, IT service providers are focusing on the environmental aspect of ESG by offering services and solutions related to sustainability such as carbon emissions assessments and advice on methods for reducing carbon footprints.

“Additionally, providers are helping customers implement circularity with strategies targeting reuse, reduce, and recycle initiatives. IT services providers are also embedding the sustainability conversation into the sale of complementary solutions, such as procurement and supply chain-related products, or smart city and fleet management solutions.”

GlobalData’s latest reports, ‘IT Services Providers Build Portfolios to Monetize ESG (part 1)’ and, ‘IT Services Providers Build Portfolios to Monetize ESG (part 2)’, found that IT services providers are developing sustainability portfolios to help customers with ESG-related initiatives, but not all are equally well-positioned in this emerging area. Many focus primarily on sustainability, but the most forward looking are offering best practices related to inclusivity.

Providers utilize a variety of strategies to expand their portfolios, ranging from acquisitions and partnerships to development of new services and solutions, and re-packing of existing tools. For example, IT services providers, including Accenture, Atos, and IBM acquired niche players that focus on emissions consulting or data analytics services.

Bhattacharyya added: “Not surprisingly, given the importance of sustainability in Europe, acquisition targets tend to be based in that region. However, the competitive landscape is evolving quickly with repositioning of players likely as acquisitions continue and as small ESG-focused boutique consultancies continue to carve a niche for themselves in the market.”

Most IT services providers offer little in the way of guidance to customers when it comes to the social and governance aspect of ESG. However, this lack of focus on social and governance-related offerings may change as ethical issues, particularly with respect to data management and privacy, cloud sovereignty, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse, become increasingly top of mind amongst organizations, and regulatory requirements evolve and mature, especially for emerging technologies.”

Bhattacharyya concluded: “Looking ahead, IT services players will need to embed sustainability elements in all business operations and not as a separate workstream.

“Although environmental sustainability is receiving a large amount of focus at present, other aspects of ESG will become increasingly top of mind. Issues related to data privacy, ethics, bias, and Responsible AI will continue to grow in importance and organizations will need help responding to these governance-related issues.”

Kana Earth unveils carbon offsetting ledger for fund managers

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

British company Kana Earth has launched an open ledger and investment platform for the UK’s carbon offsetting market, which it claims will address many of the major obstacles holding the sector back for fund managers investing in this sector.

The company says it’s already in talks with several UK based fund managers, who collectively have over a trillion in assets under management and are interested in using the platform.

The Kana proposition will enable UK landowners with carbon offsetting projects to list and promote these on the platform at an early stage of the project development, detailing the seed capital required for the projects to start. This will provide ‘unprecedented levels of transparency’ in terms of overall goals and carbon reduction targets for the schemes, and how these will be achieved. This, the company says, will make it easier for fund managers and other professional investors to reduce their carbon footprint through buying and investing in transparent UK offset credits at an early stage of the project.

With the average Woodland project in the UK being 50ha and Peatland 200ha, these projects are normally too small for fund managers to invest in, but with the Kana Investment platform providing the technology and legal framework, fund managers will be able to invest, manage, report and insure credits to create a portfolio of UK credits thereby scaling the investment in this UK Nature sector.

Under the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) initiative, over $130 trillion of globally managed assets have been committed to achieving net zero by at least 2050. Fund managers including Invesco, Vanguard and BlackRock have signed up, aiming to achieve a net zero target across their business operations, but also across their investment portfolios.

Kana says more fund managers will increasingly look to compensate for all or part of the carbon emissions linked to their portfolio companies through the purchase of carbon offsets. It also expects to see more fund managers launch new “carbon neutral” share classes enabling investors to offset the carbon emissions attributable to their investments by paying a slightly higher management fee.

It also predicts that more active fund managers will start to re-invest part of their performance fee into a charitable pool or foundation whose goal is to back carbon offsetting projects.

Andy Creak, CEO and Co-Founder at Kana Earth Ltd said: “If the UK is to meet its carbon neutral targets, it needs to find a way to make it easier for fund managers to invest in projects in the country. However, there are significant challenges facing the UK carbon offsetting market, which is adversely affecting this goal.

“The challenges the UK carbon offsetting market needs to address include limited data availability, scarce financing, and the inability to attract private investment at scale,  inadequate risk management , and the lack of a process, technology, and legal framework to standardise how UK Nature Carbon works. There also needs to be a greater standardisation of codes in the UK carbon offsetting sector. We have developed Kana to address many of these challenges and in so doing, hopefully encourage fund managers and other  professional investors to back more UK carbon offsetting projects.”

Rising energy costs and potential blackouts – impact on employers

960 640 Guest Post

By Jayne Flint, Associate in the Employment Team at Law Firm Womble Bond Dickinson

Increased energy and supply costs and the potential for blackouts this winter are forcing many organisations to consider reduced opening or manufacturing times. This article looks at the options available to employers and how to consult effectively with staff about changes to terms and conditions of employment.

Background

The National Grid has warned that from January, a series of staggered regional blackouts might be imposed from 4pm to 7pm to manage UK demand for energy.

Most businesses will be affected save for a limited number of “protected sites”, which includes hospitals, care homes, food manufacturers and other organisations that are part of critical national infrastructure.  Organisations that generate their own power will also be able to continue running during any blackouts.

Given this, it is vital to ensure that your business has a plan in place to manage the consequences of blackouts on your operations.

Options

The impact of blackouts will vary according to the size of the organisation, the nature of the work it does and the hours of work or shift patterns it operates.  Employers that already operate flexibly and have embraced remote and hybrid working will, arguably, be much better placed to cope with any  blackouts and less likely to see a significant drop in productivity levels.

This does not mean that such organisations should be complacent. It would be prudent to implement a communication plan and discuss with employees what this means in terms of their agreed working hours, whether those hours can be met through the blackouts (by, for example, varying the times of the day or week that employees work) and, if not, whether the time can be made up later or taken as holiday etc.

For many employers, the reality of managing blackouts and the negative impact this will have on productivity will be much more serious.

Organisations in the manufacturing, hospitality and retail sectors often engage staff on a fixed number of contractual hours each week.  If a decision is made to close or reduce the business during blackouts, this will in all likelihood reduce the number of staff required that week.  This may lead to discussions about a temporary reduction in hours of work, which will be a real challenge for employees who are also feeling the impact of the squeeze on their finances.

Employers need to ensure they navigate these conversations very carefully, as this will give rise to a number of legal risks. Considerations for employers include:

  • whether a temporary reduction in work will trigger the need for collective consultation under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 (TULRCA). Failure to get this right can lead to the automatic payment of a protective award at the employment tribunal of up to 90 days’ pay per employee.
  • consulting with individuals effectively to try and reach agreement on the proposal for a temporary reduction in hours of work. This may well include consideration of alternative suggestions put forward by employees.  “Outside the box” thinking can be a useful mindset for employers to adapt in such scenarios.
  • whether this will technically amount to a “lay off” situation.  This arises where staff are being offered no work or pay (or shorter hours of work) for a temporary period in order to deal with a  downturn in work.  An employee’s contractual and statutory rights (such as, for example the right to guaranteed pay,) will depend on whether or not the employer has the contractual right to lay them off or put them on short-time working, and where a reduction in work legally amounts to a layoff or short term working, this can give rise to claims for constructive unfair dismissal and/or redundancy payments. Getting this wrong can therefore be very costly to the business.
  • ensuring that any decision taken by the business does not lead to claims of discrimination by anyone in the workforce with a protected characteristic on the grounds of, for example, sex, disability, race or nationality, or age.
  • whether a continuation of blackouts will lead to the risk of redundancies. If so, appropriate timeframes will need to be put in place to submit the HR1 form and manage the redundancy process in line with collective and individual consultation measures. The duty to collectively consult and submit the HR1 will be triggered once an organisation “proposes” to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within a 90 day period. Failure to submit the HR1 form on time is an offence under TULRCA, which can lead to the imposition of an unlimited fine. This, along with the employment tribunal’s power to make an award of up to 90 days’ pay per employee for failure to collectively consult, is certainly a cause for focus,

It is also important to consider the wider implications on employee and industrial relations. Unions may object to the measures in an attempt to leverage better overall packages for their members, and businesses in this scenario need to be prepared for some tough conversations.

Preparing a well thought out plan and communicating openly with staff as early as possible will be key to both ensuring the legal risks are well managed and endeavouring to get staff on board with the need for the measures in advance of them being implemented.

Womble Bond Dickinson has a strong national team of employment lawyers and can support your business to manage the legal risks. If you would like a further discussion on a confidential basis about how we can help you, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your usual WBD contact or the author of this article.

Change or be changed – The looming threat of regulation for data centre energy use

960 640 Guest Post

By Simon Harris, Head of Critical Infrastructure at BCS

Climate change and the global response of Net Zero has dominated the political discourse in recent years. There appears to be widespread agreement within the data centre industry – as a major and growing consumer of power – that it has an important role to play in the debate and resulting actions to implement change to limit and ultimately reverse the damage caused by historical methods of power generation.

According to the findings of the latest BCS Summer Report 2022, which showcases the views and insights of over 3,000 senior industry professionals, there is a firm commitment amongst respondents to move towards a renewable-sourced future.  However, there are also strong concerns that regulation could be placed on the industry to push initiatives for the greater use of renewable sources of power at a more rapid rate, with around 90% of those surveyed believing that this could be introduced to ensure greater compliance.

Despite the industry taking action, the direction of travel in the political realm suggests that regulation could be placed on the industry due to increasing socio-political pressures and Net Zero requirements

Should the industry self-regulate?

The issue of regulation is always difficult. There is of course a need for industries to operate within a regulatory framework to ensure standards on many aspects. However, the extent of that regulation lies at the very heart of the fundamental debate of state intervention in the private sector and its implications for how business operates. There is a real and practical debate to be had, and in the real world there are industry groups to influence policy makers and legislators to ensure positive outcomes without stifling industry growth. Sensible policy makers accept and welcome this knowledge as it provides – accepting a degree of self-interest – knowledge, experience, and expertise on an issue from those with the greatest exposure to it.

In turn those reputable businesses accept the need to operate their business within a sensible regulatory framework as it provides a stable and secure environment and gives their customers confidence around industry standards. The argument around self-regulation is to what extent processes within the industry need to guide and frame within a legal process and how much can be voluntarily supported and provided.

For the data centre industry there is little doubt that the industry recognises the need to move forward with power optimisation and sensible sourcing initiatives. There are several high-profile groups and initiatives already in operation including the voluntary European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centres and the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact for example. The argument here is that those within the industry – and whose bottom lines it will directly impact – are best placed to know how to innovate and produce solutions. Around three-quarters of all our survey respondents believe that self-regulation offers the best course of action to aid the push to meet Net Zero targets. Around 94% of developers and investors, and 85% of service providers indicated this view.

There are ambitious targets to be achieved by 2025 and 2030 under the green deal, and it begs the question that if our sector doesn’t get ahead of these targets, will this be the catalyst that sees the self-regulatory initiative become legislative and regulated?  Our sector is at a crossroads with one route being proactive, investing in new technologies, self-generation and looking at innovative storage solutions to reach climate neutral targets. The other route is having legislation and regulation imposed on us and having to react to the imposition of energy, water and emission targets that we have no influence over. The outcome is uncertain.

Is data the key to reducing power & meeting sustainability goals?

960 640 Guest Post

By Chris West (pictured), Head of Managed Service, Keysource

A growing number of customers are committing to sustainability/Net Zero targets and asking us to help them understand the journey to achieving their IT and data centre related goals. 

Know what you’ve got

Our starting point is simple – organisations need to get visibility of the utilisation of their compute in order to then optimise it.  The deployment of DCIM (Data Centre Infrastructure Management) is the critical first step to see the compute, storage and networking, where it is and crucially what the hardware is.

Recent enhancements in software technology now allow us to interrogate IT (through management interfaces and industry standard monitoring protocols such is IPMI) to understand the actual utilisation of IT and this can present a number of opportunities for optimisation which can lead to a more sustainable solution. This could for example show that current servers are under utilised and that these could be consolidated, or that a technology refresh is needed to replace equipment with new more efficient hardware. Our findings show that on average, compute is only about 16% utilised and we are regularly able to make this as high as 60% once we have the data.

Accountability

If we can start to get visibility of utilisation, we can start to drive accountability for it. With optimisation statistics on individual servers, we can start to make platform managers and business segments accountable for their compute. Couple this with information on the power draw and we can start to monetise the cost of the inefficiencies.

The next stage is to leverage this information to keep driving efficiency. Currently, it is recognised as good practice to ensure that our data centres are scalable and have good levels of resilience so they are often designed for “day 2 load”  – meaning we can accommodate the ever expanding IT should we need to.

Get dynamic

“Day 1 loads” are invariably much lower than the capacity of the infrastructure, often resulting in a “low load” operation. Low load often means that we run with a greater level of resilience than we need (N+3 instead of design N+1), so we have more M&E powered than we really need. Another function of low load is that M&E systems are often not as efficient as designed and for example might be overcooling with low return air temperatures and reduced free cooling.

The technologies used to understand IT utilisation (including intelligent BMS) can also provide us with power draw information, giving us a clear picture of our IT load. If we leverage this then we can write dynamic programs to match our operating M&E to the requirements of the IT load – shutting down M&E we don’t need.

Predictive algorithms

We can also use these technologies to react quickly to failures in M&E including predictive algorithms to identify when systems are likely to fail and also to preempt operations.

These predictive technologies can in turn also contribute to sustainability goals. We can leverage technology to understand M&E equipment run hours and adapt our planned maintenance programs to service equipment when it is needed, not simply based on a calendar year. Consider your scope 3 emissions (which include your supply chain) and the savings that could be made against unnecessary travel and the replacement of consumables you don’t yet need.

The Future

Data can play a vital role in helping us to make informed choices by collecting and leveraging data and enabling the technology to drive value and reduce power usage and carbon. However, the software won’t do this alone as it needs to be part of a broader consistent approach.

Oil and gas giants taking ‘measured’ steps for energy transition

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Oil and gas industry leaders are steadily incorporating transition fuels as well as low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources into their portfolios, with the contributions of those fuels ‘pivotal’ for a successful energy transition and mitigation of carbon emissions.

GlobalData’s thematic report, “Energy Transition in Oil & Gas,” reveals that major oil companies such as BP, TotalEnergies, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron have set net zero emission targets for 2050. The industry players are taking a variety of routes in their energy transition journey, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen production, renewable power generation, electric vehicle (EV) charging, energy storage, and biofuels.

Ravindra Puranik, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Given the growing prominence of energy transition due to the increased awareness about the impact of fossil fuel emissions on climate change, the oil and gas industry will face international pressure, as the progress towards new energies becomes a particular point of scrutiny. Many governments are emphasizing the need to pursue cleaner fuels as alternative energy sources to mitigate the emissions.”

To meet their medium and long-term decarbonization targets, oil and gas players are investing in both existing and emerging technologies. Renewable power, particularly solar and wind, is one of the prominent areas where big oil companies, including BP, TotalEnergies, Shell, and Equinor are investing.

Puranik continues: “Oil and gas players are balancing their emission-intensive portfolios through the addition of renewable power projects, which could prepare them for the future market demands in the energy sector. This transition is further aided by regulatory support from major economies that have pledged to become climate neutral. In the medium term, however, emission mitigation technologies, such as CCS would help energy companies to persist with fossil fuels.”

ExxonMobil is one of the industry leaders pursuing CCS technology development and its commercial deployment. It is also investing in blue hydrogen projects that necessitate the use of CCS. On the other hand, European oil majors, such as TotalEnergies, BP, and Equinor are giving greater preference to green hydrogen, with proposed projects in Europe and Asia. Shell is investing in the growing EV market by effectively leveraging its global network of fuel retailing outlets to build EV charging infrastructure.

Puranik concludes: “The goal of this transition is to eliminate carbon emissions from the energy value chain over the long-term. Presently, oil and gas companies are taking calculated steps for energy transition but could become the dominant players over the coming years.”

World Bank passes judgement on national energy policies and regulations

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Two years of pandemic have highlighted the vulnerability and isolation of populations without electricity and have prompted countries to increase their focus on energy access and affordability, according to a new World Bank report on energy policies and regulations.

The 2022 edition of the RISE (Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy) report shows that many countries have embedded new policies to improve their energy independence and minimize energy costs in their COVID-19 recovery plans.

“Confronted with multiple crises, now more than ever countries are recognizing the urgency of connecting their populations to sustainable, affordable and resilient energy sources,” said Riccardo Puliti, World Bank Vice President for Infrastructure. “Clear policy frameworks and planning enable governments to map out their energy strategies and to provide the predictability and transparency needed to attract investments.”

According to the bi-annual report that evaluates energy policies and regulatory frameworks across a set of indicators, the pandemic was a strong trigger: nearly half of the 140 surveyed countries in each region included new policies to minimize disruptions to electricity access, quality, and affordability in their COVID-19 recovery packages.

Many governments improved their electricity access policies, with Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean scoring the highest on this indicator. This included the two largest energy access-deficit countries—Nigeria and Ethiopia— which showed noteworthy progress thanks to policy and regulatory measures on electrification planning, frameworks for mini grids and off-grid systems, and consumer affordability of electricity.

And the number of countries with advanced mini-grids policy frameworks more than doubled between 2019-2021, reflecting how mini grids and solar home systems are now widely viewed as sufficient substitutes for grid extension. Over 40% of countries surveyed offered publicly funded financing options to secure funding for mini-grid operators. This had a positive effect on the cost of off-grid electricity, as the unsubsidized levelized cost of mini-grids fell by a third, from US$0.55 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2018 to US$0.38 per kWh in 2021.

Meanwhile, with renewable technologies becoming cost-competitive with traditional baseload energy sources over the last decade, many countries phased out incentives to compensate for renewable energy production. Tax reduction is now the most prevalent renewable energy fiscal incentive in place to attract large-scale corporate investments, with half of the countries surveyed offering tax reduction incentives for renewable energy projects.

Finally, the report found that energy efficiency policies were not receiving adequate attention despite unprecedented energy price hikes, with 49 countries showing little to no advances on energy efficiency policy frameworks.

Every two years, the Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy or RISE report measures policy progress in 140 countries, representing over 98 percent of the world population, on renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity access, and access to clean cooking – the four target areas of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) on access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

RISE 2022: Building Resilience is the fourth edition of the report. The report is published by the World Bank with funding from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

The full report, along with detailed country profiles and previous editions of the report, is available at https://rise.esmap.org/

Germany to have ‘highest LNG consumption in Europe’

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Germany’s reliance on Russian gas and the need to find alternate supplies given the current geopolitical situation between the two countries has set Germany on a course to the highest liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumption in Europe.

The country, which previously relied on pipelines from Russia to meet its natural gas needs, is now looking at LNG as an alternative post Ukraine war. Germany is therefore set to register the highest LNG regasification capacity additions in Europe between 2022 and 2026, and will account for about 36% of the region’s total capacity additions by 2026, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s latest report, “LNG Industry Capacity and CAPEX Forecast by Region and Countries, 2022-2026”,Germany is expected to achieve a total LNG regasification capacity addition of 2.1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) by 2026. Of this, 84% (1.8 tcf) is expected to come from newly built regasification terminals, while the remaining 16% will come from the expansion of existing terminals.

Himani Pant Pandey, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Germany currently doesn’t have active regasification terminals. It is now mainly focusing on the development of offshore regasification terminals as they can be constructed more rapidly and economically when compared to onshore terminals. The country even passed an LNG acceleration law, which is aimed at accelerating approvals required for the development of regasification terminals.”

The planned Lubmin Floating terminal, to be operated by Deutsche ReGas, will be the largest contributor to the LNG regasification capacity additions in Germany. The terminal is expected to start operations in 2022 with its initial capacity of 159 billion cubic feet (bcf), increasing to 477 bcf by 2026.”

The second largest contributor among the upcoming projects in Germany is the Stade LNG terminal, which will be operated by Hanseatic Energy Hub and is likely to add a capacity of 469 bcf by 2026.

With a capacity of 353 bcf, Brunsbuttel LNG terminal, which will be operated by Nederlandse Gasunie is the third ranked project by highest capacity additions and  is expected to come online by 2023.

Morriston Hospital in Wales green lights solar energy farm

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Morriston Hospital will become the first in Wales to develop its own full-scale solar farm, at a cost of £5.7 million. Work is expected to start early next year on the 4MW development on land at Brynwhillach Farm, linked to Morriston by a 3km private wire.

It will supply almost a quarter of Morriston’s power, cutting the electricity bill by around £500,000 a year and significantly reducing carbon emissions.

The solar farm will comprise 10,000 panels across 14 hectares of land. For comparison, the Morriston Hospital site is 18 hectares.

Swansea Bay has been awarded a total of £13.5 million for the solar farm and other energy-saving and carbon-reducing measures, repayable on an invest to save basis.

Following an extensive selection process, the health board selected Vital Energi as its partner.

Swansea Bay UHB Chair, Emma Woollett, said: “Our health board takes seriously our responsibilities to future generations by reducing our environmental impact and in particular cutting our carbon footprint.

“I’m especially delighted to see the hard work and commitment of our dedicated estates staff being rewarded in being the first health board in Wales to go green in such a pioneering yet practical way.

“Cutting our carbon footprint and cutting costs is a win-win for the health board, our patients and taxpayers.”

Swansea Bay spends around £6.9 million a year on electricity, gas water, and sewage treatment. This is expected to rise year on year, at a rate higher than inflation.

The investment in the solar farm and energy-reducing schemes will lead to a minimum guaranteed saving of more than £1.5 million a year. It will also reduce carbon emissions by around 3,000 tonnes a year.

Health board Assistant Director of Operations, Des Keighan, said the project was being delivered in two phases.

“The first phase was a range of energy conservation measures at Morriston and Singleton hospitals, and other health board premises.

“These included changing the majority of light fittings, and improving the insulation, lagging and upgrading building management systems.

“The second phase is the development of the solar farm, which will enable us to produce our own electricity.

“At peak production times this will meet the electricity demand for the entire hospital, whilst reducing our carbon emissions.

“This is in line with the Welsh Government’s commitment for the public sector to be carbon neutral by 2030.”

The energy conservation measures have been carried out throughout 2020 and will be completed early next year.

Work on the solar farm development is due to start in the early part of 2021 and should be operational by the end of the summer.

Mr Keighan added: “We will be the first health board in Wales to develop its own solar farm.

“It has been very challenging. However, with a lot of hard work from our project team, which included the Welsh Government and other key partners, we have managed to secure the development.”

Swansea Bay Chief Executive Tracy Myhill said: “As well as keeping our hospitals and facilities running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for our clinicians to deliver patient services, this is another example of the way in which our estates teams are making a huge contribution to our patients and communities.

“I commend everyone who has made this project a reality.”

Vital Energi Account Director Phil Mottershead said: “We were delighted to be selected as the health board’s partner.

“Being able to deliver solar energy on this scale for an NHS site is an exciting opportunity.

“Combining it with other energy conservation measures makes this a highly innovative solution for the NHS.”