Tenders have been released to install almost 6000 solar panels across three of South Australia’s largest hospitals, as part of the State Government’s goal of building sustainable health infrastructure.
More than $600,000 will be saved each year as the solar panels are rolled out at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC), the Lyell McEwin Hospital (LMH) and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) this year.
The new arrays will be located on top of the existing or new car parks, with Modbury Hospital and Murray Bridge Hospital also due to add to their existing solar stores in 2020.
“We know that South Australian public hospitals are big consumers of non-renewable energy, so it is important for us to look at ways to make them more sustainable while also making sure our services deliver value for the taxpayer dollar,” South Australian Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade said.
“Our public hospitals have a very high uptake of solar energy already, with about 40 of our 75 public hospitals relying on solar hot water systems to decrease energy consumption.
Related stories:
- NT Govt backs world’s largest solar plant
- Construction complete on Victoria’s biggest solar farm
- Victoria launches new solar farm planning guidelines
“By increasing our solar energy usage across our hospitals, we will harness the energy of the sun to create around an additional 1,995 kilowatts of power over the three sites.”
SA Health’s Executive Director of Infrastructure Brendan Hewitt said the new solar panels will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Overall, with the installation of these panels across FMC, the LMH and TQEH, it is calculated that greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by approximately 1,735,650 Kgs/C02e per annum,” Hewitt said.
“The installation of more panels is in conjunction with a number of other initiatives to make our hospitals more environmentally friendly, including our PVC recycling program.
“We are always looking for ways to improve the sustainability of our hospitals and the additional solar panels are an exciting way to ensure we are taking the necessary steps towards an eco-friendly future.”
Tenders for the FMC and TQEH projects were released this week with the LMH tender scheduled for release on Friday February 7.
The almost 6000 solar panels across the three projects are expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.