A NSW hospital is installing what will be the largest rooftop solar panel system on any healthcare facility in the country.

Port Macquarie Base Hospital has announced plans to build a system of 2,000 photovoltaic panels to generate 609 kilowatts of electricity.

The $900,000 project will cover most of the available roof space at the hospital and the adjacent Mid North Coast Cancer Institute, and significantly reduce their dependency on the grid.

The system is expected to save up to $130,000 in power bills each year.

Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams, welcomed the project.

“We have so much good sunlight for an extensive period of time throughout the year,” she said.

“We can use that to the benefit of our health facilities and spend less money on energy and benefit the environment.

“The Mid North Coast has one of the highest uptakes of rooftop solar, so it makes perfect sense that we use our health facilities to capture that sun.”

Port Macquarie Base Hospital is a pilot site intended to demonstrate that large scale solar is a cost-effective and sustainable option for hospitals.

The rooftop system is part of a $7 million energy conservation program for the Mid North Coast Health District, which also includes the installation of LED lighting, window tinting and rainwater harvesting.