Turbine cash: Hospital will save £20,000
A GIANT wind turbine planned for Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital will actually generate 18 per cent of its electricity and save around £20,000 a year, it has been revealed.
The figures come after factsheets produced by Ecotricity, the company behind the plans, stated it would only generate around four per cent of its power needs.
Hospital bosses feared the discrepancy would persuade members of the public that building the 56-metre turbine simply wasn't worth the effort.
But Ecotricity took the figures back to the drawing board and this week confirmed the turbine would be capable of providing around 18 per cent – enough to power 590 homes.
It said the four per cent figure related to the proportion of the hospital's total power usage, including gas and oil, the wind turbine would create.
The turbine would also complement the QEH's existing on-site combined heat and power plant, and drive up its self-generated energy to 46 per cent.
The plans were unveiled during a public exhibition at Fairstead Community Centre two weeks ago, and will be on display in the hospital's main entrance until the end of today.
Only a handful of people attended the Fairstead exhibition, which Ecotricity's senior development manager Dr Lucy Hoyle said suggested the turbine was being put in the right location.
Ecotricity and the QEH will be submitting a planning application to West Norfolk Council shortly and, if successful, the hospital could become the first public sector organisation to be powered by green energy.
A hospital spokesman said the turbine is expected to slash the QEH's electricity bill by 20,000 a year and also reduce its carbon footprint.
He said: "There was a discrepancy with the figures, our experts this end just calculated the electricity savings but Ecotricity looked at our total energy costs. Whichever figure you look at it's a saving and every single penny saved is another penny we can put towards patient care."
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Weather for Kings Lynn
Monday 06 September 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
