St James's University Hospital

Power is mission-critical for National Health Service Trusts such as St James's in Leeds, where electricity and heating are needed 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The hospital recognised that its energy demands and the simultaneous need for both steam and electricity made an efficient and reliable CHP plant the ideal option. However, for the Trust to build its own CHP plant would have reduced the viability of the scheme.

Working closely with St James's, a scheme was developed and built on their behalf that used a 4.55MW gas turbine and a 28 tonnes per hour waste heat boiler. For flexibility and back-up, the plant is supplementary and auxiliary fired on both natural gas and gas oil.

The primary fuel, natural gas, is provided by the Trust and the plant is operated on a day-to-day basis by the hospital staff. While they maintain the plant according to E.ON's instruction and advice, all major maintenance and servicing is carried out by E.ON, taking the burden away from the Trust.

The CHP solution has benefited St James's with a secure and reliable power supply for many years to come.