Watch: See the sheer scale and size of new solar farm powering Wolverhampton hospital
New aerial photos have shown the sheer scale and size of a new solar farm which will help power a city hospital.
In new photos and video by Express & Star chief photographer Tim Thursfield, the 15,000 solar panels, which will provide New Cross Hospital with self-generated renewable energy for around 288 days a year, can be seen spread out across a large area of the brownfield site near Bentley Way in Wednesfield.
The 40-acre site, which was built by a partnership of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Wolverhampton Council, was built on a former landfill site and is the equivalent of 22 football pitches.
The facility, which opens in April, will save the Trust around £15-20 million over the next 20 years money and will produce 6.9MWp of renewable energy to New Cross Hospital, as well as generate an estimated carbon saving of 1,583 tonnes of CO2e per annum.
Work to secure the 40-plus acre brownfield site included protecting badger setts, and removing methane.
The project, combined with existing green technologies, allows the Trust to move away from reliance on the national grid and to reduce its exposure to rising electricity costs in the next two decades.
It also supports the Trust’s goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 25 per cent by 2025, and of reaching ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2040.
Stew Watson, director of Estates Development at RWT, said: “This investment is a huge boost to help us achieve that.
“Our primary focus is always on the patient and these works ensure the Trust saves money on future energy bills, which we can then subsequently invest across other healthcare services.”
Professor David Loughton CBE, Group Chief Executive at RWT, said: “As the largest employer in Wolverhampton, we take sustainability very seriously and are committed to continually working to reduce our carbon footprint.
“We have taken a number of steps to reduce and better manage our energy consumption and operate in a sustainable manner.
“One of these steps is to look at using renewable energy so we are very pleased the development will be opening soon and delighted at the way the partnerships have worked out.”
Work has also been completed on the underground cabling to connect the hospital to the solar farm.
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