HYWEL DDA Health board has launched an innovative, yet simple ‘Switch it off’ campaign to help drastically reduce both its energy usage and costs.

The campaign consists of ‘switching off’ all non-essential equipment when not in use; from computer monitors and laptops to medical equipment, lights, and radiators. This is one of the several initiatives being delivered as part of Hywel Dda’s Decarbonisation Delivery Plan. All of which are aimed at helping to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions for non-essential equipment by around 20%, which could save around £100,000 per year.

From March 2022 to April 2023, the health board reported spending almost £14 million on energy, producing more than 20 million kg in CO2 emissions. It was evident action needed to be taken to meet its targets to reduce emissions to just 34% by 2030 as set out in the NHS Wales Decarbonisation Strategic Delivery Plan.

Sarah Thorne, Senior One Health Practitioner at Hywel Dda, who has been leading on the implementation of the campaign said: “The ‘Switch-it-off’ campaign is something we expect everyone across the health board and hospital to get involved in. If we all work together, we will see those changes immediately.

“While analysing our energy usage, we discovered that leaving just one TV or PC monitor on standby, instead of switching it off, can waste almost £25 of electricity per year. We have over 6000 screens across the hospital and offices within the health board so if everyone switched off their screen when they weren’t using it, it could help to save a huge amount of money, while also reducing CO2 emissions. It is simple actions like this that will have a massive impact.”

As well as launching the ‘Switch it off’ campaign, the health board has benefitted from Estates Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) funding and Salix funding to support the delivery of a range of decarbonisation projects such as roof mounted Photovoltaics (PV), heat pumps, and solar canopies. It has also made a start in switching its lightbulbs to LED energy saving ones and is planning to install light sensors in communal areas such as toilets and kitchens. Earlier this year, the health board also received funding to install its own solar farm which provides sustainable electricity to power some services, reducing carbon emissions and promoting biodiversity in the area.

Julie James, Minister for Climate Change said: “The ‘Switch it off’ campaign from Hywel Dda is a great example of how organisations can inspire and empower their staff to work together to reduce both carbon emissions, energy usage, costs, and our impact on the environment.

“If everyone could do their bit by ‘switching off’ unnecessarily appliances, it would make a huge difference to the amount of energy we use, which will in turn help us to create a cleaner, greener Wales.”

The Welsh Government has committed to taking action on climate change. Since 2019, the Welsh Government has helped people access greener energy choices. Investing £120million in energy efficiency improvements to social housing through the Optimised Retrofit programme, helping around 148,000 people to live in homes that are cheaper and more efficient to run. The Nest scheme has supported tens of thousands of people to improve the energy efficiency of their home, while in turn reducing energy bills and improving health and wellbeing.

The Welsh Government has also backed flagships schemes such as Ripple Energy’s Wind turbine cooperative, Morriston Hospital’s solar farm and Pobl’s Penderi shared energy initiative, which has seen a community generate and share its own renewable energy. Pilots like these pave the way for similar projects in the future, enabling more people to save money on their energy.

For more advice on how you can reduce your energy use visit climateaction.gov.wales

LLANDYFAELOG is to become a “pylon city” under plans by Green Gen Cymru and the National Grid, according to Charlie Evans, Welsh Conservative candidate for Llanelli in the General Election.

Green Gen Cymru, a sister company of Bute Energy, is erecting 132kV overhead pylon lines as part of its Towy-Teifi and Towy-Usk projects across mid and west Wales, which is aiming to increase electricity grid capacity to power the proposed Nant Mithil onshore wind energy park in Powys. A new 400kV electricity substation is to be constructed in Llandyfaelog to meet this need.

Green Gen Cymru’s latest consultation came to Llandyfaelog Village Hall on Thursday 11th April.

Green Gen Cymru also revealed to Charlie at the consultation that National Grid are looking to construct a third additional pylon line connecting to the new substation. The new substation will be built to the east of the A484, off Upland Arms.

Charlie Evans said, “These plans are going to have a devastating impact on residents in Llandyfaelog. There is already a significant pylon line running over the Upland Arms at the moment. The Welsh Labour Government, with its extreme climate policies, are letting big energy companies ride roughshod over Llandyfaelog and Carmarthenshire.

“The cumulative impact of three new additional pylon lines is going to seriously impact residents’ house prices as well as drastically increase noise pollution. And local residents’ energy bills aren’t going to come down as a result. What’s in it for Llandyfaelog?

“Labour want to turn Llanelli into a city, and now they want to turn Llandyfaelog, a beautiful small village, into a pylon city.”

Charlie said that Llandyfaelog needs cable ploughing, instead of the pylons.

“I recognise that we need to increase grid capacity. We need to get to energy independence. But we don’t need all these new pylons in Llandyfaelog. ATP, a company based in Carmarthenshire, demonstrated last week that cable ploughing can be used to deliver the energy we need, without completely destroying the countryside.

And Charlie said residents in Carmarthenshire shouldn’t let Plaid Cymru off the hook.

“Plaid Cymru are propping up the Labour Government in Cardiff. They’ve signed up to the same policies as Labour. And the Plaid Cymru-led Carmarthenshire Council are removing the Special Landscape Areas from its planning framework. Whilst Plaid’s politicians in Carmarthenshire pretend to be against them, their actions say something very different.”

Green Gen Cymru’s latest consultation on the Towy-Usk project is open until Wednesday 8th May.

A DISTRICT Judge has described how a Pembroke man sent a ‘disgusting, appalling and grossly offensive’ message to his sister via a Facebook message.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sent a message to his sister on January 18, asking her if she was alone.

“He sent her a photo of himself with no top on, and the words, ‘What’s your reaction?’” Crown Prosecutor Abigail Jackson told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

Ms Jackson then went on to quote the subsequent message which the 38-year-old sent to his sister.

“I bet you’d like a long hard cock shoved deep inside you,” he told her via the Facebook messenger system.

“This wasn’t an appropriate message,” said Ms Jackson, “so the sister blocked him.”

Ms Jackson then read a victim impact statement from the sister.

“I don’t know how to put this into words,” she said.

“This is something I didn’t expect to receive from my own brother. It made me feel disgusted and has put a huge strain on our family.

“It concerns me that he can send me these kinds of messages. What can he send to other people?”

The defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of sending an offensive, indecent, obscene and menacing message to his sister when he appeared before magistrates via a video link from Swansea prison.

He was sentenced to 16 weeks in custody suspended for 18 months.

A restraining order was imposed preventing him from having any contact with his sister and from entering her address. He was ordered to pay a £154 court surcharge and £85 costs.

“This was a grossly offensive message which was both disgusting and appalling,” commented the District Judge Mark Laytn when imposing sentence.