NHS trusts in Cheshire and Merseyside secure £8.3 million for clean energy upgrades
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Hospitals and community services across Cheshire and Merseyside are set to benefit from £8.3 million of national investment to install clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades, helping to cut bills and reinvest savings into frontline patient care.
The funding will support projects including solar panels and battery storage, LED lighting upgrades, improvements to building management systems, and other clean heat and efficiency measures – reducing carbon emissions while lowering energy costs across NHS sites.
Through the NHS Decarbonisation Fund, 82 NHS trusts across England will receive a share of £65.4 million from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. In Cheshire and Merseyside, the following eight trusts will receive a combined total of £8.3m:
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The measures are expected to generate significant energy savings each year, reducing running costs and supporting the NHS’s ambition to become the world’s first net zero health service.
Dave Sweeney, Associate Director of Sustainability and Partnerships at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
“This £8.3 million investment is fantastic news for our region. By upgrading lighting, installing solar panels and making other efficiency improvements, we will cut carbon emissions while reducing energy costs at a number of our NHS sites.
“These projects will help accelerate our progress towards a greener, more sustainable NHS while strengthening our long-term financial resilience, helping us to redirect cost savings into improving services for our patients and communities.”
The programme forms part of a wider £74 million fund being allocated to hospitals, military bases and prisons across Britain to help sites switch to cleaner energy, make energy efficiency upgrades and benefit from lower bills.