Hospital plans to use its roof to generate solar power for island

The PV systems, which would be owned and operated by Guernsey Electricity, would feed directly into the network.

Vince Smith, head of energy solutions for Guernsey Electricity, said: ‘We are delighted to announce this new partnership with the Princess Elizabeth Hospital and look forward to exploring the potential opportunities that will help us to further diversify the island’s energy mix and provide additional security and independence of electricity supply for the island and our customers.

‘Not everyone can afford to install their own solar array, but through this partnership with the hospital, we hope to provide our customers with an increased supply of secure, renewable energy.’

Clive Martin, head of estates for Health & Social Care, said: ‘We are delighted to partner with Guernsey Electricity to investigate opportunities to develop our estate with initiatives such as PV installation.

‘As a major user of electricity, HSC is committed to supporting alternative, sustainable routes for generation and view this partnership as an excellent opportunity to combine both our business objectives and resources.

‘The modernisation programme for the PEH provides an excellent opportunity to further the opportunities for positive change in this area and we look forward to working with Guernsey Electricity colleagues to pursue this.’

The two organisations are investigating the suitability of the PEH’s John Henry Court building, which is staff accommodation, for a solar PV system.

This would be similar to the large-scale 100kW solar array installed at Guernsey Electricity’s power station in Vale in March 2018.

Guernsey Electricity was also granted planning permission in December 2018 to install the largest solar array in the Channel Islands on the roof of Guernsey Post’s Envoy House.

This will be approximately 200kW in size and will produce around 200,000 kWh of electricity each year.

It is due to be installed in the first half of this year.