Energy Investments

Hospital’s buildings consume large amounts of energy compared with other public and private buildings.

Improving their energy sustainability and decreasing their carbon footprint requires renewal of their old and polluting energy systems. The cost of retrofitting their buildings as well as of replacing their old and inefficient energy equipment is high.

Financing the implementation of clean energy projects with own resources might not be feasible in many cases. Healthcare facilities should try to find the best financial options supporting clean energy investments for the successful and profitable realization of the projects.

There are several financing schemes supporting sustainable energy investments in hospitals which can be used in a flexible way. They can be categorized as internal, external and mixed. All alternative financing possibilities should be examined and assessed for finding the optimum solution in a specific hospital. The main financing possibilities that can be used either alone or combined together are:

1. Financing with hospital’s own funds,
2. Financing with bank loans,
3. Financing from energy service companies (ESCOs),
4. Financing from public funds, either national or international, subsidizing clean energy investments,
5. Financing from external donors and charities,
6. Financing from energy cooperatives,
7. Financing through crowd-financing, and
8. Financing through tax exemptions

The financing options chosen depend on the scale and the nature of the specific project. Usually, large clean energy investments in hospitals require more than one financial tool. A clean energy investment can be partly financed with own capital, bank loans and governmental subsidies.