More solar panels will make Trust even greener – and save thousands in energy bills
More solar panels have been installed at wards operated by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust which will save the organisation more than £40,000 a year in energy bills.
The move came after the Trust – which provides mental and physical health services – was awarded a grant worth over £300,000 as part of a link-up between Great British Energy and the NHS.
The solar panels have been installed at three mental health wards at Fulbourn Hospital - Denbigh, George Mackenzie House (main picture), and Willow.
Kirsty Ward, senior estates and property manager for CPFT (inset), said: “We’re really pleased the work to install the solar panels have been completed.
“In total, there are now 488 panels on the roofs of the three wards and we estimate they will save us around £43,000 in energy costs.”
The funding for the work at Fulbourn Hospital was the second grant CPFT have been awarded by Great British Energy.
Last year, the Trust received £240,000 which led to solar panels being installed at Alan Conway Court at Doddington Hospital and the Newtown Centre, Huntingdon. Both bases are locations for adults and children’s physical and mental health care.
Kirsty said: “As part of our Green Plan we are committed to reducing carbon emissions from energy, travel, and waste.
“The two grants we have received are really vital to help us achieve our goals and the national NHS net zero ambitions.”
CPFT provides community physical health services for older people and adults with long term conditions, mental health services, children community services in Peterborough and learning disability services.
The Trust is also renowned for its research and development work and in June 2025, CPFT was awarded Teaching Partner status by the University of Cambridge.
The NHS is the single biggest public sector energy user, with an estimated annual energy bill of around £1.3 billion. Over the last 12 months, 260 NHS sites – including those at CPFT - have been awarded green funding.
Chris Gormley, Chief Sustainability Officer, NHS England, said: “As Great British Energy marks its first year, it’s fantastic that 162 NHS sites have completed their solar installations.
“This represents important progress in expanding solar generation across the NHS because every pound saved on energy bills is a pound that can go back into patient care. These solar panels are helping trusts across the country do exactly that.
"Together with Great British Energy, we're building an NHS that is greener, more sustainable and better placed to serve patients for years to come.”
Great British Energy’s CEO Dan McGrail said: “One year on, Great British Energy is delivering what it was designed to do – backing clean power, supporting jobs, and helping to build an energy system that is fit for the future.
“The second year is about turning momentum into legacy, setting the pathway so that every citizen can feel the benefit of public ownership with purpose.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We set up Great British Energy because it is only fair that we have clean homegrown power that is owned by and for the British people.
“In their first year they are already delivering - cutting bills for hundreds of schools and hospitals, setting out plans to back 1,000 community energy projects, investing millions to develop our clean energy supply chains, and backing new projects that will create thousands of jobs.”
ENDS
Picture of the solar panels at George Mackenzie House, Fulbourn, courtesy of Sustain Commercial Solar.
For more information contact:
Andy Burrows, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Deputy Head of Communications
E communications@cpft.nhs.uk