Solar panels at Wigan's hospitals and health centres could save up to £7.1m
Wigan is set to receive £2.1m to pay for new rooftop solar panels on hospitals and health centres.
The Government and Great British Energy have announced a £200m investment in schools and hospitals across the country to fund clean power and cut energy bills.
Nearly 200 NHS sites – covering a third of NHS trusts – are receiving cash to install rooftop solar panels that could power operations, with potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid.
The first panels are expected to be in hospitals by the end of the summer. They could be placed on hospital rooftops or ground-mounted in car parks or other areas on NHS sites.
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) will get £2,148,000 to pay for solar panels at Wigan Infirmary, Wrightington Hospital and Leigh Infirmary, as well as community locations such as Ashton Research Hub, Blackrock, Golborne Clinic, Hindley Health Centre, Longshoot Health Centre, Shevington Clinic and Tyldesley Clinic.
A total of 3,235 modules will be installed by April 2026, which will generate an expected saving of £300,000 – the equivalent annual electricity consumption of 518 UK households.
They are expected to save the trust between £5.5m and £7.1m during their lifetime.
Richard Mundon, WWL’s deputy chief executive, said: “This is fantastic news for WWL. This funding will certainly help us achieve a sustainable future and achieving our net zero strategy by 2045.
“The healthcare sector can play a vital role in helping the UK adapt to a changing climate and reducing its carbon footprint. WWL recognises the impact of our activities on the health of current and future generations, and we continue to encourage our staff to adopt practices that reduce resource consumption and minimise environmental harm whilst providing high quality patient care.”
Chris Gormley, chief sustainability officer at NHS England, said: “Thanks to the dedication of teams nationwide, the NHS has already implemented hundreds of projects that enhance energy efficiency and drive significant cost savings.
"This ground-breaking new investment, across 78 NHS trusts on around 200 sites, will expand solar power generation within the NHS by over 300 per cent, slashing energy costs by hundreds of millions of pounds. These vital savings can be reinvested directly into frontline care, ensuring the NHS continues to deliver for our patients and communities.”
Schools and hospitals have been hit with rocketing energy bills in recent years, costing taxpayers millions of pounds and eating into budgets.
The NHS is the single biggest public sector energy user, with an estimated annual energy bill of £1.4 billion, that has more than doubled since 2019.
Estimates suggest that the average NHS site could save up to £45,000 per year on its energy bill if it had solar panels with complementary technologies installed such as batteries.
WWL also recently secured nearly £2m for essential lighting upgrades through National Environmental Education Foundation phase three, to reduce energy consumption, cut costs and advance the trust’s Green Plan, with Internet of Things (IoT) and LED retrofits across five sites.
These upgrades are set to generate up to £8.6m in energy and maintenance cost savings across the 25-year lifetime of the product.