The Canary Islands Health Service (SCS), created in 1994, is the public body attached to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands in charge of public health provision to the population residing in the Canary Islands. In turn, it is part of the National Health System.
The purpose of the SCS is the promotion and protection of health, the prevention of disease and the guarantee of health care in all cases of loss of health.
The SCS has a network of 266 Primary Care centers and 18 hospitals, of which six are university hospitals, four are general hospitals and another eight are hospital infrastructures that depend on the university hospitals to attend to less complex processes. In addition, for care of out-of-hospital emergencies there are 76 resources distributed throughout the geography of the Archipelago.
The SCS provides health care in an archipelagic territory that is 2,000 km away from Spanish territory. The main challenge is to comply with the principle of equity of the health system, offering quality care to all patients regardless of the island on which they reside.
Within the 8 measures that define the Strategic Health Framework Zer0 net emissions 2030, identifies “Support for R&D&i to attract research potential in the health sector, in relation to Ecological Transition and Energy Efficiency”.
Based on this Framework, a total of 6 Strategic Axes are identified, of which Strategic Axis 6 is defined as “Sustainable projects of a strategic nature”. The great commitment of the SCS in this Axis is the implementation of GREEN HYDROGEN in our hospital infrastructures, being an INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE in this field, as demonstrated by the different awards that the initiative has been receiving and the references that other national health systems such as the British NHS.
Renewable hydrogen is part of the solution to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
Renewable hydrogen is destined to be a valuable energy vector for end uses where it is the most efficient solution in the decarbonization process, such as energy-intensive industry.
Hydrogen and high temperature processes, long-distance heavy transport, transportation maritime, rail transport or aviation. Furthermore, the quality of energy vector gives it a great potential as an instrument for energy storage and sector integration.
And it is in this important context where the SCS wishes to lead, through SaludZer0 Net Emissions 2030, the integration of green hydrogen in the hospital sector, which is an important demand for electricity and heat.
H2HEAT will use renewable energy from offshore wind to produce green hydrogen through the WHEEL project, a 6MW facility developed by Esteyco and funded by the EU. The ground-based hydrogen production plant will initially use a 1MW electrolyzer, which will replace conventional fuel at CHUIMI. This process will be carried out through an innovative combination of an advanced technology burner, designed to take advantage of a 100% renewable cogeneration system, and a heat pump. In this way, it is expected to supply more than 50% of the heat needed in the hospital through green energy.
The SCS will adapt the CHUIMI facilities to take advantage of the heat generated by the hydrogen produced. This heat will be used in the hospital’s heating and domestic hot water systems, with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions generated by current heat generation systems by more than 50%.