Legal Support for Energy Procurement Project

Description

The Trust aimed to decarbonise its energy supply at St Thomas' Hospital and potentially across its wider estate, including Guy's site, Brompton, and Harefield hospitals.

This involved transitioning from gas-based systems to air-source heat pumps, with the goal of sourcing heat from a private sector organisation under an Energy Service Company (ESCO) arrangement, similar to a District Heat Network.

The total estimated cost of the project was approximately £60 million. The Trust intended to invite private capital and enter into a long-term agreement to purchase heat from the selected ESCO while enabling them to operate on Trust premises.

GSTT sought legal services to support the procurement and implementation of an Energy as a Service (EaaS) solution.

The project progressed to the Outline Business Case stage internally within the Trust, and funding was secured from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) for legal and procurement support through grant funding only. The Trust then prepared to enter the procurement phase.

Amberside Advisors were engaged for procurement and technical approach/strategy support, and additional legal and procurement oversight was required to ensure the process adhered to NHS regulations while seeking to secure the project's off-balance sheet status. Any option that did not allow for off-balance sheet treatment would not have been considered, and the Trust would have ceased the project immediately due to CDEL implications and its relation to the Trust's balance sheet.