£100k on offer to help Greater Manchester businesses reduce energy bills

SMEs in Greater Manchester are invited to apply for a new Energy Efficiency Grant to support delivery of energy efficiency improvement projects.

A grant of up to £5,000 is on offer from Green Economy, who have been commissioned by Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver business support programmes funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Levelling Up project, to support the local ambition to be a net zero city-region by 2038.

Alasdair Dalzel-Job, Technical Lead at Green Economy, said:

“We have seen time and again that the key barrier to net zero for businesses is accessing cashflow and capital investment to take those ‘nice to do projects’ to the top of their to do list. This grant presents a real opportunity for businesses in Greater Manchester to prioritise energy efficiency improvements in 2024.

“We have delivered a number of grants for businesses over the years, awarding over £1 million since 2018, which has helped businesses to save £2.3 million in overheads, with annual carbon savings of 5,773.63 carbon tonnes.”

The Energy Efficiency grant is available to small and medium enterprises based in Greater Manchester, providing 50 per cent of the cost to deliver projects worth up to £5,000. Eligible projects include heating equipment upgrades, replacement motors, process efficiency investments, and lighting efficiency. To qualify for the grant, projects must specify the scale of CO2e savings expected from the project.

New freezer saves Greater Manchester bakery almost £12,000 per year

HM Pasties produce award winning pasties and pies from their bakery in Oldham. The business received support from the Sustainability and Net Zero team to identify opportunities to increase efficiency, cut costs and reduce carbon emissions. Following an onsite review their advisor recommended replacing the existing undersized and inefficient freezer.

The business was awarded a grant worth £3,000 towards the cost of the new blast freezer. This has led the business to save £11,939 per year, from reducing electricity consumption by 54,391 kWh equating to 16.7 carbon tonnes (tCO2e).

The new freezer will also save 19.9 carbon tonnes (tCO2e) by using a less harmful and more efficient refrigerant.

Lee Wakeham, Director of HM Pasties said:

“We were delighted to receive funding towards the purchase of our new freezer. It was surprising to see how this relatively simple fix could help us to increase productivity and save money, whilst also doing our bit to reduce harmful emissions. I’d urge any business to engage the Green Economy team to bring a fresh perspective into tackling rising energy costs and the net zero challenge.”

Eligible businesses can find out more about the grant and the application process by visiting https://www.greeneconomy.co.uk/services/transition-to-net-zero/grants/.