An NHS trust has paused a £50m energy centre build after it deemed the prices contractors offered too high.
In 2022, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust offered contractors the chance to bid for a new energy centre that would provide heat and power to its hospitals.
A notice published last week (9 September) revealed the procurement process had been dropped. A trust spokesperson told Construction News the build was on hold because “tender prices were significantly over approval levels.”
The spokesperson added: “We are reviewing long-term solutions for energy provision on the Royal Hospitals site while new and emerging technologies are developed and come on to the market.”
The delay also puts a proposed children’s hospital building at the Royal Victoria Hospital in jeopardy. Planning documents reveal the energy centre needs to be in operation before the children’s hospital is completed.
A £200m tender for the children’s hospital job went out in April 2020, but no update has yet been issued.
The trust confirmed that energy provision would be “one of the considerations” on future developments within the Royal Hospital site.
Member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Diane Dodds revealed in August that the children’s hospital would not be operational until 2030, a decade after its original expected opening date.
The energy centre would have contained plant and services including steam boilers, combined heat and power units, heat recovery boiler and 11kV high voltage generators, alongside some staff accommodation. The job, due to last 32 months, would have also included an oil storage facility and high voltage incoming supply.
When the plans were submitted in November 2022, the energy centre aimed to be complete in 2024. Enabling works, including demolition of the existing building, have already started on site.
