Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau has multiple energy efficiency projects underway that will help to combat climate change.
In late 2020, the New Zealand government launched a major initiative to combat climate change that will require public sector organisations to achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and carbon zero by 2050. To meet these goals, we are working on multiple energy transition projects to reduce our fossil fuel use.
Currently, each year Counties Manukau consumes around 60GWh of energy, from both electricity and gas and emits around 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. That's the equivalent energy consumption of 8,000 average households per year.
The energy efficiency projects happening across Middlemore Hospital, Manukau Health Park, and Pukekohe Hospital can reduce our emissions by around 4,700 tonne per annum by 2025, which is about 47% of overall emissions.
These projects are expected to save us more than 20GWh of energy and an average of $2.5M dollars in utility costs per annum by 2025.
Chiller heat recovery is one of the main energy efficiency projects underway, due to be completed by 2025. This project involves recovering the waste heat generated from the chiller water and upgrading it to a higher temperature using electrical heat pumps.
This hot water is used in taps throughout the hospital, as well as the central heating system. Once complete, the project will reduce Counties Manukau's carbon emissions by 1,866 tonnes per annum, that's the equivalent of 676 average petrol car's carbon emission per year.
Additionally, Counties Manukau has received co-funding for leasing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Currently, 80 BEVs have been leased, and 86 EV chargers have been installed, with the remainder expected to be completed by June 2025. Another project involves replacing a chiller with a low-emissions alternative at Manukau Health Park, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 3,991 tonnes over ten years.