Our Story

Public sector organisations, including Local Authorities, are usually one of the biggest energy consumers due to their large estates and typically older, inefficient office buildings. The removal of green subsidies has weakened the financial case for renewables, with already stretched financial resources, local authorities are struggling to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint effectively.

To combat this, an EDRF funded partnership between Energy Systems Catapult and five GM local authorities; Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, and Wigan, created the Unlocking Clean Energy initiative. It aims to deliver 10MW of renewable energy and storage projects, while increasing local authority capacity to deliver more projects without grant funding reliance.

Using EDRF funding, the five local authorities will deliver circa 10 renewable energy projects across Greater Manchester, producing approximately 25% of the 2024 renewable energy target, cutting carbon emissions and increasing capacity.

The Challenge

Naturally, working across five different local authorities bring with it a variety of different skills, capabilities, and approaches to topics such as procurement, finance and capital projects. Ensuring we are all on the same page, we set up a consortium to monitor progress and share knowledge and ideas to help overcome challenges. It’s been an excellent forum to help the project progress. But it wouldn’t have been possible without having willing, able, and engaging partners on board; therefore making sure you have the right people involved is invaluable.

It is also critical to understand where the project team has gaps in skills and come up with a plan to address this. Our local authority partners received excellent support from the Local Energy North West Hub during our planning phase, but we have also had to procure sub-contractors for certain tasks as well as the preparation and submission of planning applications.

Our Solution

In terms of the ten projects we have up and running, we believe we will be saving 31,000 tonnes of Co2 emissions per year, with that set to rise if the identified business models are adopted more widely.

Salford City Council have a solar and hydroelectric energy scheme with battery storage and EV charging, alongside a 2MWH Solar Farm in Little Hulton. The site covers 3.79 hectares and comprises of 5,094 solar panels, generating power for 438 homes a year. It aims to increase biodiversity on the site and improve access to nature for local people by renovating and connecting some adjacent green space. A hydro-electricity generation project at Charlestown Weir will use the River Irwell to generate 710kWh of energy a year, enough to power around 200 homes.

Stockport Council has three proposed roof mounted solar projects which are part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Two projects will be located at the new business / leisure hub, Stockport Exchange and the other at the Endeavour House depot in Bredbury. These consist of a mix of solar PV, battery storage, solar car ports and ancillary EV charging.

Alongside the capital delivery programme, Energy Systems Catapult are exploring innovative business models with the aim of improving the financial case for the development of similar projects in the future when grant funding won’t be available. The combination of capacity building among local authority partners, with new and innovative business models, will hopefully lay the foundations for increased deployment of renewable energy infrastructure without reliance on grant funding.

The scheme also aims to tie in with the Greater Manchester Five-Year Environment Plan which targets carbon neutrality by 2038 and an additional 45MW of renewable energy generation capacity by 2024, with increased diversity and flexibility.

Find out more

To find out more about how Green Energy for Greater Manchester, head to: es.catapult.org.uk/UCEGM