Preparatory work to start on £57m Energy Centre at Kettering General Hospital
Preparatory work on Kettering General Hospital’s planned £57m new Energy Centre is starting.
Over the next few weeks cabins and hoardings will arrive on site and will be some of the first visual signs that preparations are underway for a two-year programme of work to build the centre.
The essential development will replace all the hospital’s 50-year-old electrical infrastructure and also its rented temporary boilers – which are currently the hospital’s only source of heat and hot water and regularly break down.
When it is complete insummer 2027 the new Energy Centre will renew and boost the hospital’s electricity supply and provide a state-of-the-art power and pumping plant to ensure patients, visitors, and staff, continue to get reliable hot water, power, and heating for the foreseeable future.
University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group Director of Strategy, Polly Grimmett, said: “I am delighted to announce that we now starting our preparations to build the new Energy Centre which will replace our existing heat, water and power systems.
“It is urgently needed because our electrical infrastructure is currently at its capacity limit at a time when we know our electrical requirements are only going to increase significantly.
“And our current heating and hot water systems are also very fragile and rely on a temporary steam boiler plant which sits on a flat-bed truck bases in our car park and needs regular maintenance and repairs. “
Other enabling work, planned for March by our electrical supply partner HVSS, will include working with National Highways and North Northants Council to dig trial holes around the junction of Rothwell Road and Lower Street to and verify where cable, pipes, and drains can be laid to serve the new Energy Centre before more involved works start later in the year.
These may cause some traffic congestion on Sundays but will not involve full road closures.
An engagement event with local people for this project is being held on Thursday April 3 at the Hope UK building at: 50 Gold St, Kettering NN16 8JB, from 3pm – 7pm. The event will explain the project and our desire for community involvement throughout the project.
The Trust’s main contractor for the work is Integrated Health Projects (IHP)and the main body of the work being planned over the next two years will involve:
- Electricity - New incoming high voltage cables from Field Street include new transformers, a ring main around the site, a new substation on site and connection to existing substations.
- New Energy Centre to include gas fired boilers, air source heat pumps, circulation pumps and backup generators
- Heating - New heating feeds into hospital blocks around the site along with new air handling units providing ventilation and modifications to existing units and plant rooms.
Once the centre is built we will then run the new systems in parallel with the old systems until we are confident that everything is working well with a plan to switch off the old systems by the summer of 2027.
Mark Bessey, Director of Healthcare, IHP, said: “IHP are thrilled to be working with Kettering General Hospital on this transformative project. This energy centre will not only support the hospital’s operations but also align with broader sustainability goals, reinforcing our commitment to delivering infrastructure that makes a real positive impact on communities.”
When it is complete and fully operational the new Energy Centre will make a significant contribution towards the Trust’s ambition to achieve net carbon zero status by 2040. It is set to deliver an estimated 40% of the hospital’s planned target reduction in carbon emissions.
UHN and IHP are committed to considerate building and will be holding a community event to share more details about the energy centre build and will keep local people up to date on any works that will lead to disruptions.