Great British Energy solar panels cut bills for NHS and schools

Communities across the country will benefit from more money for textbooks and healthcare services, as Great British Energy’s solar rollout continues to cut energy bills for schools and hospitals. 

Five NHS sites and 11 primary schools – from the south coast to the North East – will save a combined total of £3.8 million on their energy bills after installing Great British Energy solar panels. Panels were installed at 5 NHS sites and 3 schools over the summer, with 8 more schools due to get new solar panels over the autumn.  

It follows the government’s announcement in March to award £180 million of funding for schools and hospitals to install rooftop solar, marking the first major project for Great British Energy – a company owned by the British people, for the British people. 

In England, around £80 million is supporting around 200 schools, alongside £100 million for nearly 200 NHS sites, covering a third of NHS trusts, to install rooftop solar panels that could power classrooms and NHS services with clean, homegrown energy, while giving them the potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid.  

Schools and hospitals have been hit with rocketing energy bills in recent years, costing taxpayers millions of pounds, and eating into school and 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 £1.4 billion, that has more than doubled since 2019. 

Thanks to Great British Energy, millions could now be invested back into frontline services in deprived areas – as the rollout continues on a scheme that will see lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400 million. 

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said 

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

Across the country, solar panels are going up on rooftops or carpark canopies, to power classrooms and 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.

Great British Energy’s CEO, Dan McGrail said 

Great British Energy has been set up as a publicly owned energy company to help deliver the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.  

Our ongoing solar rollout delivers tangible benefits to the people that need it most in our hospitals and schools. Our continuing work is ensuring money is being put back into frontline care and education, providing cheap, clean and secure power.

Chris Gormley, Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS England, said  

Thanks to this new funding, we are set to expand solar generation by more than 300% across the NHS – slashing millions of pounds from energy bills, which can then be redirected into patient care. 

These new solar panels are expected to save the NHS £8.6 million every year once all the projects are completed, adding up to £260 million over their lifetime. 

That’s a massive leap towards a more sustainable, cost-efficient NHS – building on the great work already undertaken in the five years since we became the first healthcare system in the world to commit to reaching net zero.

Eleven schools are already saving on bills after switching on their solar panels in June – and all schools and hospitals under the scheme are expected to have their Great British Energy solar power up and running by April.  

Currently only about 20% of schools and around 10% of hospitals have solar panels installed, despite the huge potential for the clean energy technology to help save money on bills. 

Estimates suggest that on average, NHS sites could save up to £45,000 a year and a typical school could save up to £25,000 per year – if they had solar panels with complementary technologies installed such as batteries. 

The rollout of these solar panels marks progress in Great British Energy’s Local Power Plan that will ensure the benefits of the government’s clean power mission are felt at a local level, with energy security, good jobs and economic growth – while also helping to rebuild the nation’s public services. 

This includes Great British Energy’s investment of £10 million in grant funding for England’s Mayoral Authorities to deliver local clean energy projects, announced earlier this year. The scheme will see public services across the country – such as libraries, fire stations and care homes – save an estimated £35 million in lifetime energy bill savings to reinvest back into serving their local communities. 

Earlier this month the Energy Secretary also set out his expectations for how the publicly-owned company will deliver on the government’s clean energy superpower mission – that will take back control of Britain’s energy supply to protect billpayers from global fossil fuel price spikes. The company will produce a strategic plan within 6 months, setting out how it will meet these expectations and deliver for the British public.  

Jonathan Guppy, Head of Sustainability at the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said 

This is a hugely important milestone for the trust as we take tangible steps to cut our energy costs and carbon footprint, and release more money to spend directly on patient care. The installation at Winchester & Eastleigh is already making a real difference and is just the beginning of a wider programme of work that will deliver long-term environmental and financial benefits across our estate.

Nicola Malone, Head Teacher at Christ the King Roman Catholic Primary School, Salford, said  

We are very proud that Christ the King is benefitting from the Great British Energy Solar Partnership programme. The solar installation will make a lasting difference for our school, whilst showing our children the value of sustainability and emphasising our shared responsibility for the world around us.

Mark Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Bellevue Place Education Trust said 

We are delighted to have Kilburn Grange School and Halley House School enrolled in the Great British Energy’s solar programme in addition to other Bellevue Place Education Trust schools. Last year, all our schools collectively achieved an amazing 9.4% reduction in energy consumption, which meant that our trust has been able to save £299,000 in energy bills, which we can invest back into the education provision for our pupils.

Alun Williams, CEO of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership Trust, Radstock said

We were delighted for Peasedown St John’s Primary School to be part of the Great British Energy solar panels project. We are already seeing the positive impact of the solar panel installation in the form of reduced energy costs. These savings have been reinvested into providing high quality resources for the children at the school.

Notes to editors 

The devolved governments have received separate GBE funding of over £9.35 million which will be used for renewable energy schemes that can be deployed either onto public sector buildings or to support new community or local renewables schemes. This includes £4.85 million for Scotland, £2.88 million for Wales and £1.62 million for Northern Ireland. 

Solar installations have been completed across the following NHS sites, with a combined project cost of £704,332 and a total installed capacity of 474 kW. These assets are estimated to deliver yearly average net energy bill savings of around £63,200 and of around £1.9 million over their operating lifetime (assumed to be 30 years). 

Note  Energy bill savings estimates are based on DESNZ assumptions agreed with other government departments (OGDs). They comprise three components electricity bill savings, revenues from exports, and are net of operating costs. All values have been rounded to the nearest 100. 

Solar installations are being completed across the following schools, with a combined project cost of £1.3 million and a total installed capacity of 626526kW. These assets are estimated to deliver yearly average net energy bill savings of around £63,200 and of around £1.9 million over their operating lifetime (assumed to be 30 years).