Hospital to benefit from heat-pump system delivering over 5 MW of heating and cooling
A cooling system with a capacity of 5.4 MW in a new hospital is claimed to be the largest in Europe to reject heat to a lake, in this case a water reservoir. Being installed by Skanska for Kings Mill Hospital in Mansfield, the system can also provide up to 5 MW low-grade supplementary heat to the gas-fired boilers when cooling demand is low. Geothermal is working as a partner with Skanska to develop and deliver the scheme.
The system will use a network of heat exchangers submerged in the neighbouring Kings Mill Reservoir to extract or reject heat using a closed-loop system.
COPs of 4 to 7 are expected, reducing CO2 emissions and energy bills. The life expectancy of the 42 heat pumps is also considerably longer than traditional plant.
The project design team consulted with the local council and Friends of Kings Mill Reservoir to assure them that the environmental impact of the system would be low and, in some cases, benefit the ecology of the body of water.
Patrick Sherriff of Geothermal International, says, ‘The possibilities this technology offers is getting more and more attention, and we are delighted to be involved with a project of this size.’
