'Britain's Greenest Hospital' reaps the benefits of RHI

In 2010, to reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability, UHSM’s Wythenshawe Hospital replaced a 4.2MW gas boiler with two 2.2MW capacity biomass boilers. The boilers burn 20 tonnes of wood chip a day, all sustainably sourced. Utilising biomass allowed the hospital to reduce its carbon emissions in line with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (since replaced by the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme), a mandatory carbon emissions reduction scheme for large energy-intensive organisations.

The installation of the biomass boilers was prompted by the introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Launched in 2011 by Ofgem, the RHI aims to encourage organisations to generate heat from renewable technologies. The RHI pays participants of the scheme for generating renewable heat and using it in their buildings and processes. But proving that your organisation meets the requirements of the RHI can be difficult, as eligible heat output has to be determined and verified.

Two main criteria have to be fulfilled in order to successfully gain RHI accreditation and receive tariff payments for steam boilers. The first is that eligible heat output has to be determined using RHI-compliant metering. Secondly, applicants need to commission an Independent Report on Metering Arrangements (IRMA) in order to verify to Ofgem that they have eligible metering arrangements in place, such as appropriately located and installed meters.

Endress+Hauser was able to carry out this consultancy on UHSM’s behalf, even accompanying them to a meeting with Ofgem to make their case for accreditation. “Endress+Hauser’s Energy Efficiency Manager, Wes Allen, and I put in a lot of work ahead of that meeting,” explains Mark Foden. “When Wes came to site he was much more proactive in working out what it was we needed and not just what he could sell me - it was a breath of fresh air.”

Endress+Hauser helped UHSM develop a plan to locate and install the necessary metering, including five RHI-compliant steam heat metering systems and three condensate heat metering systems. A series of controlled shutdowns took place on Friday and Saturday nights to clear asbestos from the steam pipework with minimal disruption to patients and hospital staff. After all the work was completed, UHSM was awarded RHI accreditation in February 2015.

A data collection panel and a cloud-based data management software solution was also supplied that tracks eligible heat output every 15 minutes, removing the need for manual readings. Automatic loss of data alarms can also generate warnings of possible equipment fault. “It’s really important for us to be able to see what proportion of our heat is being supplied by biomass,” confirms Mark Foden. “The software helps me demonstrate how we can increase efficiency and predict payments.”