Deputy Mayor visits Kingston Hospital to see transformational projects that will save thousands in energy bills

News · 13 Mar 2026

Five people standing in front of a hospital entrance — From left to right: Shani Kotecha, Marketing Manager for Zero Carbon Accelerator, Ezgi Kelleher, Principal Policy and Programme Officer for Zero Carbon Accelerator, Mete Coban MBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy, Ray O'Halloran, Deputy Director of Estates & Facilities at Kingston Hospital and Felicity Meerloo, Programme Manager for Zero Carbon Accelerator

Mete Coban MBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy, visited Kingston Hospital this week to see how the Mayor of London’s Zero Carbon Accelerator is helping the Trust to cut carbon emissions and reduce energy bills.

The Zero Carbon Accelerator is supporting Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust with two major decarbonisation projects to make the transition to greener and cleaner energy. These include

£1.5m solar project, funded by Great British Energy, installing 871kWp of solar panels across 16 buildings.
£1.8m heat pump project, funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), delivering 160kW of low‑carbon heat across three buildings.

Two people standing in a car park; one is looking at a printed building plan and the other is gesturing — Mete Coban and Ray O’Hallaran, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities, looking at site plans for upcoming solar panels installation

Mete Coban MBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy said:

“It’s great to meet the staff at Kingston Hospital and see the solar panels that will be going on the roof. Projects like this will help save the hospital money on its energy bills so they can invest more in patient care, while also helping transition to cleaner, greener energy.

Cutting carbon emissions at the scale London needs will only happen when organisations work together. That’s why the Mayor of London launched the Zero Carbon Accelerator – to give partners the support they need to turn ambition into action and help build a greener, fairer London.”

The Zero Carbon Accelerator Alliance is providing technical and advisory support during the planning, construction, handover and commissioning stages. By filling gaps in capacity and capability, the team is helping the Trust to maintain high‑quality delivery while meeting tight funding deadlines.

Ray O’Hallaran, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities for the Trust, hosted the visit and highlighted the difference this support has made.

Ray shared: “When the principal contractor supporting the Trust’s decarbonisation projects went into receivership, we had to look at other ways of delivering this project within budget and on time. Part of this reset included engaging with the Zero Carbon Accelerator. The team was so accommodating and spotted some great opportunities; while we were renovating the largest building roof, they identified a chance to install solar panels. If we had to install solar panels later on, it would have cost a lot more money.”

Support from the Zero Carbon Accelerator

Heat pumps

The PSDS‑funded heat pump project will replace end‑of‑life gas boilers and upgrade insulation, heating distribution and other key building fabric components. It will:

provide 160 kW of low-carbon heat over 3 buildings
save £25,000 per year for the Trust
cut 110 tCO₂e annually
contribute £1.8m towards the Trust’s journey to net zero 2030.

It will also help reduce the backlog maintenance of boilers and lower NO_x emissions.

Solar panels

The Trust will install 1,409 solar panels across 14 buildings, supported by the GB Energy Fund. The Accelerator is supporting feasibility assessments, planning and distribution network operator (DNO) engagement, project management, and technical input through design, installation and commissioning.

Once complete, this project will:

save £200,000 in annual energy costs for the Trust
cut 116 tCO₂e annually
contribute £1.5m of investment to decarbonisation projects.

Zero Carbon Accelerator support for NHS Trusts across London

Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust is one of seven NHS Trusts currently supported by the Zero Carbon Accelerator across eight live projects, spanning solar, battery storage and heat pumps.

This includes:

Two men looking at a building with insulated heating pipes running along a brick wall near a blue plant‑room door and a staircase leading to an upper level. — Mete Coban and Ray O’Hallaran on the site tour, looking at a Low-Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) system that was part of a previous debcarbonisation project.

St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group
King’s College Hospital NHS
Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust
Whittington NHS Trust
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Is your NHS Trust looking for decarbonisation resources and templates? The following guidance documents and checklists have been developed for NHS Trusts by the Zero Carbon Accelerator, as part of the NHS GB Energy projects:

Commissioning and Handover Guide for Solar PV: This guidance document supports the commissioning and handover of solar PV systems on buildings.
Solar PV Maintenance Guide template: This guidance document provides a structured framework to inform the operation and maintenance of rooftop solar PV systems on estates.
Solar PV Quality Assurance Checklist template: This document acts as a project checklist of activities that need to be completed across the RIBA stages as part of the development and delivery of a solar PV project, acting as both a project check sheet and a project progress tracker.
Measurement, Monitoring and Verification Guide template: This specification and guidance template is intended to support the development and implementation of robust Measurement, Monitoring and Verification (MM&V) arrangements to enable transparent assessment of solar PV system performance following installation.

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