Royal Liverpool University Hospital CHP plant

Key benefits

Greatest electrical efficiency to provide the hospital with the lowest total lifetime cost of ownership
Full product lifetime commitment and specifically tailored O&M contract
Proven track record within industry sector
Operational since 2001 – total number of hours 170,000
Approx 10-12% fuel savings
A total of 87,000 tonnes of carbon have been saved since the installation of the scheme
Overall savings of scheme: £6.25m, current annual savings £1.1m/yr
High plant availability guarantee – due to application of extensive remote
Monitoring and diagnostic tools incorporated into the CHP plant

Edina CHP saves over £1million in energy costs for Royal Liverpool University Hospital

Edina supplies, installs and maintains two high efficiency natural gas engines to reduce the energy costs by £1million, reduces carbon emissions by 87,000 tonnes per annum and provides security of power supply for this critical region wide hospital.

The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in Merseyside and Cheshire. Based close to the city centre, the hospital provides emergency, general and specialist treatment to patients from across the North West, North Wales and the Isle of Man.

The hospital currently has around 40 wards, more than 710 beds and incorporates the main Emergency Department for the city of Liverpool, the largest of its kind in the country treating major, complex trauma as well as minor injuries.

As a leading University Hospital, placements are available for student doctors, nurses, dentists and allied health professionals from both the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moore’s University.

The energy centre that provides the hospital with its total power, heating and cooling requirements is operated by Dalkia Utility Services, who awarded Edina, the contract to supply and install 2 x MWM TCG 2032 V12 combined heat and power (CHP) units as a means to reduce the energy and carbon emissions whilst maintaining a high level of availability for this critical site. Each unit is rated at 2.65MWe, one of the largest installations of its type in the country at the time.

The CHP systems provide power, LTHW (Low Temperature Hot Water), HTHW (High Temperature Hot Water) and steam to the Hospital. Throughout its installation, the system has performed to a consistently high standard achieving an average availability of 95% over this period.

Highly commended

The installation received a “highly commended” award at the 2012 Association of Decentralised Energy (ADE) (formerly known as the Combined Heat and Power Association) Awards ceremony as it was one of the first of its type at this size using reciprocating gas engine technology in lieu of the conventional gas turbine approach (the industry standard at the time of installation).

The electrical efficiency of the MWM engine averages in excess of 40%, which is much greater than an equivalent sized gas turbine or other reciprocating engine of this age.

This installation demonstrates the effective use of reciprocating gas engine technology when supported by a fully inclusive maintenance contract. The most recent major overhaul took place in 2011 and the engine is still operating within the requirements of CHPQA (Combined Heating and Power Quality Assurance)

In March 2010, the British Government gave the go ahead for a £451 million redevelopment of the hospital, which will make the hospital one of the most advanced in the North West of England.