Funding of £50m is being invested in energy saving measures in the NHS to help it slash its energy bills by up to a fifth.
Greater energy efficiency could cut £150m from the NHS's current annual energy bill of £750m, the Green Investment Bank (GIB) estimates, using measures such as combined heat and power systems, low-energy LED lighting, better heating and ventilation systems and biomass boilers.
The cost of installing new technology is outweighed by the savings on energy bills, the bank said, and it could also cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 per cent.
Shaun Kingsbury, chief executive of the GIB, said: "As one of the country's most energy-intensive organisations, the NHS could save up to £150m a year by putting in place energy efficiency measures.
"That's why GIB has committed to back a wave of projects to modernise and better equip NHS facilities and systems. Everything is tailored to the needs of the NHS."
The GIB has teamed up with financial company De Lage Landen (DLL) to provide £50m of funding, with each party investing £25m in the funding alliance.
The first project to receive funding from the new pot is the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where a £7.5m scheme will see upgrades to the combined heat and power system and steam boiler and installation of low-energy lighting.
The finance will be paid back over 15 years from savings made on the hospital's energy bills, and the scheme is expected to save £2.8m a year over that period. It is also expected to save 7,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking 3,300 cars off the road, the GIB said.
Andrew Camina, of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the Queen's Medical Centre, said: "We are committed to doing all we can to save energy and reduce our carbon emissions at our hospitals, which make up one of the biggest acute teaching trusts in the country.
"We are pleased to be working with partners to do all we can to reduce energy costs and emissions and seek to find ever more innovative ways of reducing energy use."
The project follows a £50m scheme with Société Générale Equipment Finance for energy efficiency schemes, which has included hospitals, and a separate project for Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.
Sign up to the E&T News e-mail to get great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day.
