£100k on offer to help Oldham businesses reduce energy bills

SMEs in Oldham 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 Oldham to prioritise energy efficiency improvements in 2024.

“We have delivered a number of grants for businesses across Greater Manchester over the years, awarding over £1 million to businesses in the city-region since 2018.

"This 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 Oldham, 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 saved Oldham bakery almost £12,000 per year

HM Pasties received support from the Sustainability and Net Zero team and 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 a new blast freezer.

This has helped them save £11,939 per year, from reducing electricity consumption by 54,391 kWh equating to 16.7 carbon tonnes (tCO2e).

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.”

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

Oldham manufacturer saves £2,749 in energy costs with new processor

Oldham based SK Electronics worked with their Sustainability and Net Zero advisor to apply for grant funding to install a new variable speed drive compressor at their factory.

The funding enabled the business to replace their existing inefficient 11kW fixed speed compressor.

The firm acquired a new variable speed drive unit which included a heat recovery system to divert waste heat from the compressor to the factory.

By upgrading they saved 11380kWh of electricity and 5913kWh of gas, which equates to annual cost savings of £2749 and 3.7tCO2e.

Steve Walker, Technical Director at SK Electronics, said: “This grant meant we saw a return on investment on our new compressor within 18 months of installation, reduced from three years if we’d invested without the grant.

"Receiving this funding means we’re able to invest in additional improvements across the business.”

Eligible businesses can find out more about the grant and the application process by clicking here

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