Guy’s and St Thomas’ announce new energy partnership

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Meridiam have announced a strategic energy partnership that will modernise the Trust’s energy infrastructure.

The first-of-its-kind energy partnership is aimed at addressing the critical need to upgrade ageing infrastructure, tackle rising energy costs, and reduce carbon emissions across the NHS estate.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ has created an innovative new delivery model to harness private investment to accelerate the modernisation of its energy infrastructure. The partnership will require no upfront investment from the NHS, allowing the Trust to preserve vital resources for patient care.

Meridiam will design, finance and deliver upgrades to energy systems, and help to identify, develop and deliver projects that improve the reliability of energy supply, lower energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.

The first project under the partnership will deliver a new, more efficient low-carbon heating and energy system at St Thomas' Hospital, replacing outdated infrastructure. It will also involve Meridiam’s delivery partner, Dalkia UK’s Energy Services arm, one of the UK's leading technical and energy services providers.

Under the agreement, Meridiam will take over the energy generation assets and the Trust will buy energy from them at an agreed cost. This supports financial sustainability by mitigating future energy price shocks and reducing avoidable maintenance and repair spending, which increase with ageing infrastructure.

Future projects will include improving building energy efficiency, modernising energy networks within the hospital estate and replacing fossil-fuel heating systems with low-carbon alternatives.

The partnership aims to establish a scalable and replicable model to support other NHS Trusts and public bodies in south east London that are seeking to accelerate their own infrastructure transformation and decarbonisation programmes.

Andrew Asbury, executive director of estates, facilities and capital development at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “Upgrading our energy infrastructure significantly enhances our resilience and ability to deliver critical healthcare services, reducing the likelihood of unplanned outages that impact patient care. Modern systems are also more energy and resource efficient, leading to long-term savings in utility spend and ongoing operational costs.

“By not allocating the Trust's capital to this project and leveraging private sector investment, our funds can be prioritised for capital expenditure in clinical services.

“There are environmental as well as economic benefits too. Improved local air quality and a reduced carbon footprint contribute to healthier communities in the areas we serve.”

Thierry Déau, founder and chief executive officer of Meridiam said: “We are proud to support Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in delivering concrete and innovative healthcare infrastructure projects. Together, we aim to develop scalable solutions that contribute to the decarbonisation of hospitals, improve operational performance and deliver long-term benefits for patients, staff and the wider community.”

Delphine Gilbert, managing director at Dalkia Energy Services, said: “This partnership shows how major NHS estates can decarbonise critical infrastructure while protecting capital for patient care. St Thomas’ Hospital is a complex live healthcare environment, where resilience, safety and continuity are essential. Dalkia is proud to bring the technical capability needed to help modernise ageing energy systems, reduce emissions and create a scalable model that can support the wider NHS transition to heat electrification and low-carbon healthcare.”

Guy’s and St Thomas’ undertook a procurement to appoint a Strategic Energy Partner through a single-supplier Framework Agreement. The purpose of the framework is to support the modernisation of the Trust’s estate using an Energy as a Service (EaaS) delivery model.