Veolia extends energy savings at Royal Berkshire Hospital
Veolia is now increasing energy savings at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading following a 15 year extension to the existing contract.
The £9.7 million works have seen the 740 bed Hospital move a step nearer a zero-carbon future by installing hydrogen-ready boilers, believed to be the first use of this technology in the NHS. By installing more efficient boilers, reducing distribution heat losses, and improving control of the heating and hot water systems the hospital will save around 3.8GWh of gas and 850 tonnes of carbon per year.
This highly complex and difficult process, which is self-funding from the energy savings, covered completely removing the existing steam generation and distribution from the site and converting to Low Temperature Hot Water. This involved installing the new network, comprising around 3km of pipework and 44 heat exchangers, whilst the existing system continued to supply vital heating and hot water to the medical facilities. This challenging project was funded from the Government Health Infrastructure Plan, that required the project to be completed by the close of the financial year.