GE Showcases United Kingdom Hospitals’ Use of Combined Heat and Power Technology to Significantly Reduce Energy Costs, Emissions

As the United Kingdom works to comply with increasingly stringent European Union energy efficiency standards, two of London’s oldest and most prominent hospitals operated by the Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust recently demonstrated their use of GE’s (NYSE: GE) Jenbacher combined heat and power (CHP) solutions to significantly reduce their energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

The onsite CHP plants at Guy’s Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital were showcased this week as part of GE’s "London Technology Tour.” The event highlighted how technology is helping to support the city’s energy security and other local improvement projects for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Guy’s and St. Thomas NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest hospital organizations in the country.

Guy's Hospital is home to King's College London School of Medicine and Dentistry and has the tallest hospital building in the world with 34 floors. St. Thomas Hospital is one of London's most famous hospitals and is home to the Florence Nightingale Museum. The two facilities employ 10,000 people and serve more than 850,000 patients annually.

Seeking to reduce its energy costs and environmental impacts, the Trust installed the natural gas-fired CHP plants at Guy’s Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital in 2009. Each CHP plant uses one of GE’s three-megawatt (MW) ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher J620 gas engines, providing cost-effective and reliable onsite electricity and thermal power to the hospitals.

The Trust used a £10 million grant from the Department of Health's Energy and Sustainability Fund to install the overall CHP plants. The systems already have proven they are worth the initial investment. Since their commissioning, the two CHP plants have helped the Trust reduce CO₂ emissions at the hospitals by a total of almost 11,300 tons per year and save more than £1.5 million in energy costs annually—or enough to power the city of Newcastle for a week.

"The successful installation of GE’s Jenbacher CHP systems represents a major step in our overall commitment to reducing our carbon footprint,” said Alexandra Hammond, sustainability manager for the Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. "It seems fitting that two of London’s leading teaching hospitals are also helping to educate the public on the benefits of using CHP technology to help achieve our environment and operational goals.”

The Trust had installed the CHP plants after realizing it needed to take bold steps to improve the efficiency of its hospitals. By 2004, the Trust was spending roughly £10 million a year on energy, a cost that was growing rapidly due to rising energy prices.

"It quickly became clear that in terms of both financial and carbon savings, the use of GE’s Jenbacher CHP technology was the most effective choice to help lower our costs and emissions,” Hammond said. "The benefits for us have been substantial. We already are recovering the cost of the project through reduced energy bills and the CHP systems have also reduced our carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of taking over 3,500 cars off the road per year.”

United Kingdom-based Clarke Energy Ltd., a leading international alternative energy project developer and GE’s United Kingdom distributor of Jenbacher gas engines, installed the CHP plants at the London hospitals. The units are providing the hospitals with all of the heat and hot water needed during the summer as well as half the required heat in the winter. The CHP plants also generate about half of the hospitals’ electricity.

"We are pleased to be collaborating with Guy’s and St. Thomas NHS Foundation Trust to show how GE’s gas engines help an increasingly diverse range of industrial customers to generate their own onsite power and heat to meet their environmental and energy efficiency goals,” said Rafael Santana, president and CEO—Gas Engines for GE Energy.

Across Europe, more hospitals like Guy’s Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital are turning to CHP solutions to enhance local energy security and patient care by helping the facilities to avoid unplanned outages.

In other parts of London, GE’s Jenbacher gas engines and other advanced energy technologies are being deployed to help the city prepare for next year’s Olympic Games and subsequent economic development opportunities. Other GE-London 2012 Olympic Games energy initiatives include:

• Supplying its ecomagination-qualified Jenbacher CHP technology to power two innovative, natural gas and biomass-fueled energy centers being built in the Olympic Park and Stratford City developments. The centers will provide 10 MW of reliable and efficient power, heating and cooling for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. In particular, the energy centers will help the Olympic Delivery Authority reach its target of a 20 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions through the use of renewable and alternative energy sources compared to traditional heating, cooling and power generation equipment. The energy facilities also will support new buildings and communities developed after 2012.
• GE’s 2009 opening of the first Smart Grid Center in Europe at the company’s Bracknell headquarters. The new Smart Grid Center supports the United Kingdom’s effort to help consumers use energy more efficiently and cut carbon emissions. The new center offers visitors the first-ever "power generation-to-appliances” view of the smart grid by showing utilities, governments and consumers the many dramatic energy-management and carbon footprint-reducing advances that are available today. GE already provides grid management technologies for 13 of the 14 distribution network operators as the United Kingdom government pursues its goal of installing smart meters in every home by 2020.

About GE’s ecomagination

GE is driving a global energy transformation with a focus on innovation and R&D investment to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technology. Since its inception in 2005, 115 ecomagination-approved products have been brought to market with revenues reaching $18 billion in 2009. With $5 billion invested in R&D its first five years, GE committed to doubling its ecomagination investment and collaborate with partners to accelerate a new era of energy innovation. The company will invest $10 billion in R&D over five years and double operational energy efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. As part of the initiative, GE launched "GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid”, a $200 million financial commitment challenging innovators to join in developing clean energy technologies. It is extending this Challenge with the "GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home,” to develop technologies that help households manage their energy usage. For more information, visit the ecomagination website at http://ge.ecomagination.com/index.html.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.

GE also serves the energy sector by providing technology and service solutions that are based on a commitment to quality and innovation. The company continues to invest in new technology solutions and grow through strategic acquisitions to strengthen its local presence and better serve customers around the world. The businesses that comprise GE Energy—GE Power & Water, GE Energy Management and GE Oil & Gas—work together with more than 90,000 global employees and 2010 revenues of $38 billion, to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; as well as other alternative fuels and new grid modernization technologies to meet 21^st century energy needs.