Multi-million-pound grant for NHS trust behind Warwick Hospital to help lower the estates' carbon footprint

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) has been awarded a £8.1million grant to lower the carbon footprint of its estate.

The funding comes as part of a national programme to decarbonise public sector buildings, supported by a grant scheme launched in 2020 by the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and delivered by Salix Finance.

South Wales based FP Hurley will deliver a district heating system powered by air and water source heat pumps at Warwick Hospital, alongside other energy conservation measures such as double glazing, improved building management systems and a solar photovoltaic (PV) roof.

The development is said to deliver at least an annual saving of 1,236 tonnes of Carbon dioxide (CO2).

The project is being delivered through the Carbon and Energy Fund Framework (CEF), which has been specifically created to fund complex energy infrastructure upgrades for public sector organisations.

Cristina Calleja, sustainability manager at South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Estates, Capital and Sustainability teams have worked very hard for the past few months in putting together a grant application and finding a partner for this project.

"This new way of delivering heat to our site will reduce our carbon emissions and benefit our staff, patients, and visitors.

"We are extremely delighted to have received the funding enabling us to deliver the work. We believe this project demonstrates our commitment to climate change at the Trust.”

Dr Ken Gale of F P Hurley said: “We are very excited to be working in new partnership with the South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust and the Carbon and Energy Fund on this heat decarbonisation project at the Warwick Hospital.

“This Salix grant funded project enables F P Hurley to deliver the best in class energy efficiency measures and provides a 17-year partnership that will help the Trust to meet its NetZero targets. This will be done by cutting SWFT’s reliance on fossil fuels and will advance the Trust’s progress to eliminate carbon emissions by 2045.”