Retail electricity and gas contract for cogeneration hospitals

Five major Victorian hospitals receive a large proportion of their electricity and steam (for heating, hot water and sterilisation) supply from onsite cogeneration plants. There is 36MW in total.

A collective retail energy supply agreement for the five hospitals is needed for the supply of gas for the cogeneration plants, for electricity for the cogeneration-connected parts of the hospitals for when the cogeneration plant/s are not operating and gas used by some hospitals for other purposes, such as cooking.

The retail agreement will include provisions for the retailer to export excess cogeneration electricity to the grid.

The State is seeking a retailer that is licensed to sell electricity and gas in the State of Victoria for the supply of gas and electricity in connection with the Guaranteeing Future Energy Supply (GFES) project, to five major public hospitals to service the needs of their cogeneration facilities and provide electricity when the cogeneration plants are not operating. There is also an aspect of export of electricity from those facilities.

The intent of this Request for Tender is to enable the State to enter into a retail electricity and gas contract for the five sites, for a period of five years for the first three sites set out below and for a period of two years for the latter two. The relevant co-generation facilities are those of the following Hospitals:

• Royal Melbourne Hospital - Parkville Campus (2 x 6MW turbines)
• The Alfred (1 x 6MW turbine)
• University Hospital Geelong (1 x 6MW turbine)
• Dandenong Hospital (1 x 6MW turbine)
• St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne (1 x 6MW turbine)