NHS sites to cut bills with Great British Energy solar panels

Communities across England will benefit from more money for their local NHS services, as Great British Energy’s solar rollout continues to cut energy bills for public services.  

As part of an expanded scheme to fund solar panels for NHS sites, military sites and schools, 34 NHS trusts across England, including 10 already in programme, will receive funding from Great British Energy and government for new solar panels. 

These NHS trusts will install the panels at around 70 more sites, from hospitals to mental health facilities. In total, the scheme will see around 260 NHS sites benefitting.  

Estimated energy bill savings over the panels’ lifetime could reach up to £65 million for the trusts from this additional spend. 

The scheme covers more than a third of NHS trusts in England, helping them to power health services with clean, homegrown energy, while giving them the potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid.  

NHS services have been hit with rocketing energy bills in recent years, costing taxpayers millions of pounds, and eating into healthcare budgets. This has been driven by the UK’s dependency on global fossil fuel markets over which government has no control. The NHS is the single biggest public sector energy user, with an estimated annual energy bill of around £1.34 billion, that has almost doubled since 2019.  

Thanks to this partnership between the NHS and Great British Energy, millions could now be invested back into frontline services – as the rollout continues on a scheme that is estimated to see total lifetime energy bill savings for the NHS of up to £325 million – with the average NHS site estimated to save around £35,000 a year in energy bills. 

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:  

“Great British Energy is helping your local hospital save money on its bills, to be reinvested into the frontline, from nurses to medical equipment. 

“Across the country, solar panels are going up on rooftops or carpark canopies, to power operating theatres with clean, homegrown power.  

“This is our clean energy superpower mission in action, protecting our public services with lower bills and energy security.”