North East Ambulance Service’s Hartlepool South station has become one of the first NHS sites in the country to install new Great British Energy solar panels, helping to cut energy bills by around £4,700 a year.
The money saved will be reinvested into frontline care, as part of a wider government plan to improve public services for communities across the country.
The installation is part of a national £180 million scheme from Great British Energy and the UK government, supporting nearly 200 NHS sites and 200 schools to reduce their energy bills, generate clean energy, and free up more funding for patient care and education.
In 2024/25 the North East Ambulance Service answered over 1.4million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls from its three emergency operations centres in Newcastle and Teesside. Crews, operating from the service’s 61 ambulance stations, transported more than 280,000 patients to hospital. The service also operates three training and education centres where it’s education team is responsible for staff’s ongoing education and skill building.
Kev Scollay, chief executive at North East Ambulance Service, said: "We are proud that Hartlepool South is one of the first ambulance stations in the country to benefit from this scheme. Every pound we can save on running costs is a pound we can put back into patient care, and these solar panels will support both our sustainability goals and our frontline services."
Martin Gibson, environmental and sustainability manager for the service, added: “This is another important step in our journey to becoming a greener organisation. By investing in clean energy solutions like solar panels, we’re not only saving money but also helping to protect the environment - and vitally – our service, for generations to come.”
The solar panels will allow Hartlepool South to generate its own clean, homegrown power, with the potential for the service to sell excess energy back to the grid.
Earlier this year, the service was awarded the Carbon Saver’s Sustainability Standard ‘Triple Crown’ Certificate for its ongoing efforts to combat climate change. Since the introduction of the service’s Green Plan in 2021, it has embarked on several projects to reduce its annual carbon emission output, including the opening of the UK’s first ever carbon-neutral tri-station in Hebburn.
Overall, the service is estimated to have reduced its carbon emissions by 7.4% since the beginning of 2024; 2.4% more than forecasted in its sustainability action plan.
Energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said: "Great British Energy is helping your local hospital [and ambulance service] save money on bills, to be reinvested into medical equipment and frontline health services. Across the country, solar panels are going up on rooftops or carpark canopies, to power classrooms and operating theatres with clean, homegrown power."
Great British Energy chief executive, Dan McGrail, added: “Great British Energy has been set up as a publicly owned energy company to help deliver the Government’s mission to make Britian a clean energy superpower.
“Our ongoing solar rollout delivers tangible benefits to the people that need it most in our hospitals and schools. Our continuing work is ensuring money is being put back into frontline care and education, providing cheap, clean and secure power.”
The £180 million programme is expected to deliver up to £400 million in lifetime savings for schools and the NHS, reducing reliance on fossil fuels while helping services weather rising energy costs.