On 29th March 2012, Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change launched Greater Manchester’s Energy Plan at Siemens in Manchester.
Greater Manchester’s Energy Plan – Connected outlines the region’s energy priorities and has been created by a partnership of local authorities, businesses, academics and key figures from the energy sector – the Greater Manchester Energy Group, now part of the Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub. It also outlines how the region’s approach to energy will help to meet Greater Manchester’s ambitious target of a 48% cut in CO2 emissions by 2020. 

At the launch Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey said:  “It’s great to see local businesses, councils and industry in Manchester working together to help cut carbon and get on a cleaner, greener energy footing.  We need to move towards a sustainable, affordable and low carbon energy future in the UK and Greater Manchester, with its new Energy Plan, is helping to lead the way.”

Greater Manchester currently spends £5 billion on its energy bills every year and very little of this is spent within the local economy. Working alongside key private sector partners, AGMA’s Environment Commission and the GM Energy Group, aim to create local energy products, services and infrastructure to ensure Greater Manchester gets a share of the £112 billion energy market. The plans include:

• Introducing additional wind turbines, hydro plants and solar technologies to produce renewable energy;

• Increasing the use of bio gas heat and power systems – using gases created from waste treatment to produce gas or electricity;

• Creating new community energy schemes – allowing local residents and businesses to buy a stake in energy production, for example, Oldham’s Saddleworth Hydro scheme where local residents acts as shareholders and share the profits of all energy produced;

• Roll out of energy efficient technologies to cut consumption – including LED lighting and low carbon buildings; and

• Renewing and replacing our ageing energy distribution network to cope with increasing demands from digital industries and to allow for two way transfer of power from new energy generation, for example, solar panels.

Also included are plans to encourage more customer control of energy production and consumption – reducing energy costs for residents and businesses, increasing household’s disposable income, reducing fuel poverty and reducing business running costs. This approach is already being pioneered by local companies – including Peel Energy and The Co-operative Group.

Greater Manchester is already a hub for research and development into energy. The plan uses this knowledge, and builds on supporting evidence from a range of local and national sources, not least the Sustainable Energy Action Plan 2010  and Decentralised Energy Study 2010. It also outlines how local businesses can capitalise on this knowledge and turn these new technologies and concepts into saleable products and services.

For more information contact sarah.davies@agma.gov.uk