Big Solar Power System For Byron Central Hospital’s Rooftop

New South Wales’ Byron Central Hospital will soon be partly powered by rooftop solar panels – potentially thousands of them.

Byron Central Hospital is situated in Ewingdale, which is only around 5 kilometres from the heart of Byron Bay in NSW’s Northern Rivers region. It’s a busy hospital, providing acute and sub-acute inpatient care and other services including emergency, mental health, birthing and maternity, cancer care and medical imaging.

Built in 2016, the hospital already has some green features in relation to energy efficiency, including a Building Management System (BMS) controlling and monitoring ventilation, lighting and power systems. Other sustainability features include the use of solar hot water systems.

Emissions reduction at the hospital is about to take another big step with the installation of a 720kW solar power system on the hospital’s huge rooftop. According to Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD), it will be the largest rooftop mounted PV installation on the state’s north coast, and the first of its kind for a hospital in the region.

Along with the emissions reduction will be big energy bill savings.

“We know renewable energy is better for the planet, but it’s also a financially sustainable option, with the estimated electricity cost savings to our health district across the life of the system being more than $3 million.” said NNSWLHD  Director of  Corporate Services, Matt Long.

While electricity generation potential wasn’t noted by NNSWLHD in its announcement, a commercial solar system of this size in the Byron area could be expected to generate more than 1.1 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, averaging 3,195 kilowatt-hours a day.

Installation of the system is expected to be completed during the final quarter of this year.

NNSWLHD provides public healthcare to more than 300,000 residents across the district through dozens of facilities. Its service area covers from Tweed Heads in the north to Tabulam and Urbenville in the west, to Nymboida and Grafton in the south – an area of 20,732 square kilometres.

The Byron Central Hospital PV project is the first for the organisation, but it won’t be the last.

Solar Energy In Byron Shire

This system will join thousands of other solar panel installations in Byron Bay and across the 2481 postcode area. In the broader Byron Council region, close to 800 installations in the small commercial capacity range (10 – 100kW) have been installed, and approximately 46.3% of compatible dwellings have had smaller installations (source: APVI). There appears to be only one system more than 100kW capacity in the LGA currently, which is a 155kW installation at the Byron Bay sewage treatment plant.

Byron Central Hospital may not hold the crown of largest system in the local government area for too long. Council-owned land at Byron Council’s Resource Recovery Centre at Myocum is being considered for a solar farm up to 5MW. But that has been a long process to date, with community consultations kicking off back in 2019 and developer hopefuls short-listed in 2020.

NSW Hospitals A Solar Powerhouse

Hospitals and healthcare facilities across the nation have been installing solar panels, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria. A few years back, the New South Wales State Government splashed out $5.5 million for installations, which was followed up by another $14.5 million for PV and energy efficiency upgrades, then another $8.1 million. At the time, then-Energy Minister Matt Kean said installing panels on health facilities was a “no-brainer”.

Across the border, the Victorian Government’s Regional Health Solar Program resulted in approximately 9MW of solar power capacity installed across 74 sites – and more has been added since outside of that program.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/byron-hospital-solar-mb2448/