Great British Energy Funds Solar on 400 Schools and Hospitals

GREAT BRITISH ENERGY’S first project will put rooftop solar panels on 200 schools and 200 hospitals.

In England around £80 million in funding will support around 200 schools, alongside £100 million for nearly 200 NHS sites.

Installing rooftop solar panels could power classrooms with the potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid. The first panels are expected to be in schools and hospitals by the end of summer 2025, in time for the next academic year.

Rocketing energy bills have increased energy bills for schools and hospitals in recent years, eating into school budgets.

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.

Great British Energy to Fund Rooftop Solar

Great British Energy’s first investment could see millions invested back into frontline services, targeting deprived areas, with lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400 million over around 30 years.

Estimates suggest that on average, a typical school could save up to £25,000 per year, whilst the average NHS site could save up to £45,000 per year on their annual energy bill if they have solar panels with complementary technologies installed such as batteries.

Additionally, nearly £12 million will fund local authorities and community energy groups to help build clean energy projects.

Wise Public Investment

Solar Energy UK Chief Executive Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK, said: “This is a very wise piece of public investment. Slashing bills while cutting emissions is exactly why Great British Energy was established. Just like households, schools and hospitals alike have been beset by high energy bills over recent years, pulling precious funds from where they should be going. So every penny put into solar photovoltaics and energy storage for public buildings means more cash for the services we all depend on – and help teach the next generation the value of renewable energy.”

Potential Savings

Currently only about 20% of schools and under 10% of hospitals have solar panels installed, but the technology has huge potential to save money on bills. For example, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust installed a solar canopy over the car park at its Wharfedale Hospital site that will reduce carbon emissions by 43.7 tonnes per year and save the trust £75,000 annually.

A large project at Hull University Teaching Hospital has 11,000 solar panels which saved it around £250,000 a month last summer. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s new solar farm at a former landfill site is expected to power the entire hospital site with self-generated renewable energy for around 288 days a year – saving around £15-20 million over the next 2 decades.

Solar for Most Need

Funding will be targeted schools and hospitals with buildings that are able to accommodate solar panels in areas of England most in need. As part of this, government will select the schools which will be primarily clustered in areas of deprivation in the North East, West Midlands and North West, as well as at least 10 schools in each region.

Each cluster will include a further education college which will work with the contractors appointed to promote careers in renewables. This could be through work placements, skills bootcamps and workshops.

Alongside this, the NHS ran an expression of interest process to identify the selected hospital sites, with installations managed by the NHS.

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