Cummins Power Generation powers Australia's greenest hospital

The project will  help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45%.

When it comes to hospitals, time as well as dependability is key factor to ensuring the well-being of patients in their care.

Slated to open late this year, the new A$1 billion Royal Children’s Hospital in Parkville, Melbourne will be Australia’s greenest hospital. The new hospital, being built by Bovis Lend Lease will treat an extra 35,000 patients a year, with 85% of the 357 beds being in single rooms — the highest percentage of any public hospital in Australia.

With the increase in number of patients, the Royal Children’s Hospital needed a highly reliable and uninterrupted power source such as Cummins Power Generation to ensure the smooth running of daily operations.

In creating the perfect power solution for the Royal Children’s Hospital, Cummins employed the use of a tri-generation system providing the hospital with baseload power around the clock, reducing the hospital’s dependency on the grid and effectively lowering the electrical costs.

The tri-generation system, which effectively marries gas and diesel generator technology features two 1160 kWe Cummins C1160N5C (QSK60) lean-burn gas generator sets, with each generator operating around 6,000 hours a year during peak demand.

In addition, supporting the standby power system at the hospital are three 2250 kVA C2250D5 (QSK60) diesel generator sets that synchronize with the gas generators and load share in the event of a blackout.

“The fact we haven’t had to make two separate electrical systems and then try to interface these systems has been hugely beneficial. The workmanship of Cummins and its contractors, and the expertise Nick Rousch (Cummins applications engineer) brings to the control side, is second to none,” said Nathan Saffery, project manager for PSG Elecraft.

The plant is one of the green features at the hospital that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45% and the tri- generation system alone will reduce the hospital’s CO2 emissions by around 20%.

Cummins’ ability to fully integrate gas and diesel generator technology was also one of the key differentiators between Cummins and its competition.