East Midlands NHS Trust portfolio: 2.4MWp PSDS-funded across 8 sites

Project overview

An East Midlands NHS Trust operating across eight estate sites — including a major acute hospital, three community hospitals, two ambulance stations, and a corporate HQ — completed a 2.4MWp solar deployment in 2024 funded through a Phase 3 PSDS grant. The application strategy was the differentiator: solar was bundled with air-source heat pump installations on three of the community hospitals, plus LED relighting and BMS upgrades, to clear the cost-per-tonne threshold for grant approval.

---

The challenge

The Trust faced two specific challenges. First, very tight cost-per-tonne thresholds in the Phase 3 PSDS application window — solar PV alone was scoring at £420/tonne, well above the soft cap, because the Trust's grid emissions counterfactual was already partly decarbonised. Second, capacity constraints across the seven smaller sites: the acute hospital had ample roof and DNO headroom for ~1MWp, but each community hospital and ambulance station was capacity-constrained, with typical optimum sizes of 150–250kWp.

---

Structure and economics

PSDS Phase 3 grant funded 75% of the qualifying capex (£1.44m); Salix decarbonisation loan funded the remaining 25% (£480k) at zero interest, repayable over 10 years through demonstrated energy savings. Recipient body cash outlay was effectively zero on the grant component, with the Salix loan mechanically self-funding from the ongoing electricity savings.

---

How we got there

1. Step 1

   Q1: Initial Trust energy strategy review and option appraisal across the eight sites. Half-hourly demand modelling for each site to determine optimal solar sizing per location.

2. Step 2

   Q2: Bundled application strategy designed — solar paired with heat pumps and BMS upgrades to clear cost-per-tonne. Joint application written by Trust energy team with our advisory support on the financial modelling and lender selection.

3. Step 3

   Q3: PSDS Phase 3 application submitted, including detailed cost-per-tonne calculations and 25-year carbon and cash-flow modelling. Salix loan facility application submitted in parallel.

4. Step 4

   Q4: Award notification received — full grant approval at 75% of qualifying spend, plus Salix loan approval. Procurement framework call-off initiated.

5. Step 5

   Year-2 Q1-Q3: Phased site delivery across the eight sites, sequenced by occupational disruption considerations (acute hospital last, smaller sites first to refine installation methodology).

6. Step 6

   Year-2 Q4: Commissioning of all sites complete. Monitoring portal live across the eight sites with consolidated reporting to the Trust's energy management team.

---

Outcome

Year-one combined electricity saving across the eight sites: £478,000. Heat pump operations contributing additional ~£62,000/year of fossil-fuel cost displacement. Carbon savings: 1,180 tonnes CO₂ in year one, with cumulative 25-year savings projected at 25,500 tonnes.

---

What this case taught us

• Bundled applications consistently outperform solar-only PSDS applications. The cost-per-tonne metric is everything, and heat pumps are the lever that pulls the bundle into qualifying territory.
• Phased site delivery across multi-site portfolios allows learning to compound — installation methodology refinements on smaller sites improved efficiency on the acute hospital install.
• Salix loan integration with PSDS grant is structurally clean — the two products complement rather than compete, and Trust finance teams found the combined application less burdensome than expected.