Solar farm's success exceeds £4million in power savings
Morriston Hospital’s groundbreaking solar farm has amassed over £4million in power savings as it marks its fourth anniversary.
The site, based in nearby Brynwhilach Farm, switched on its solar panels in October 2021 as the facility became the first of its kind in the UK to directly power a hospital.
Currently, it powers a third of the hospital’s power, and has saved £4.3million in electricity bills by generating its own power and selling excess power back to the grid.
It is now well on the way to paying back its development costs, with the potential to carry on providing sustainable energy for many years to come.
Since April, the mild weather has generated 800,000 kilowatt-hour (kWh) - a unit of energy used to measure how much electricity a household consumes – more compared to last year and led to over £110,000 extra savings over the same period, with just under £850,000 being saved in total.
In terms of energy, that is the equivalent of the consumption of 2,329 average households over the course of six months.
Since being switched on four years ago, the solar farm has developed significantly with a new battery and extension going live in April 2024 along with extra panels being installed to take the tally up to 12,000 in total.
The battery means that excess power generated during daylight hours can be stored and then used by the hospital after sunset.
The farm currently generates five megawatts of power, which helps the health board save significant money at a time when the price of energy is particularly high.
The solar farm initially cost £5.7m, with the extension costing £3.6m – repayable over 11 years - which has been funded by an invest to save grant from Welsh Government's Wales Funding Programme.
Beverley Radford, Compliance Manager, has been a key figure in the solar farm project. She said: “The success of the solar farm underlines and affirms the health board’s initiative to take action more than four years ago.
“It has proved a hugely successful project so far, delivering significant savings for the health board.
“It also cuts our carbon footprint as a health board, which we are particularly pleased about as we are very conscious of the affects every decision we make has on the environment.
“Our estates department has worked very hard on the solar farm project to make it as successful as possible and delivering major savings each year. Our partnership with Welsh Government, and the grants made available, have also played a big part in ensuring we are making the most of the project’s potential.”
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