Workstream #1 Buildings and energy
1.1: The Estates Programme (Phase 1) is due to complete this financial year (by March 2022). The Estates Programme focuses mainly on leisure centres, as some of our most energy intensive buildings. Improvements include solar photovoltaic (PV) at the Space Project, LED lighting at Sharp and the completion of works at the Tennis & Football Centre, previously paused due to use as a vaccination centre. The list of buildings in the programme is Wythenshawe Forum; Town Hall Extension; East Manchester Leisure Centre; The Sharp Project; Space Project; Hough End Leisure Centre; Arcadia Sports Centre; Moss Side Leisure Centre; North City Family & Fitness Centre; Belle Vue Sports Centre and Manchester Tennis & Football Centre. In total £6.6m of carbon reduction works were identified, with a forecast carbon saving of circa 1,400 tonnes of CO2 per annum, a payback period in the region of 10 years and 2.5MW of renewable energy generation capacity.
£1.2m of European Regional Development Fund via the Unlocking Clean Energy in Greater Manchester (UCEGM) Project will deliver a large rooftop solar scheme and battery at the Hammerstone Road depot in Gorton, as well as the solar PV on car ports at the National Cycling Centre. This will save an estimated total of 415 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Both projects are underway and have dependencies on wider refurbishment projects. The deadline for completion is June 2023. The access issue to the car park area at the National Cycling Centre, for the installation of the solar PV car ports has now been resolved.
Funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS1) has detailed designs, planning permission, and works contracts in place for all but one building. At the East Manchester Leisure Centre there are issues with utilities obstructing the bore hole drilling. A revised plan has been submitted to planning and if approved, the works will remain within the programme timeframe. All contractors have committed to March 2022 deadline for works to complete. The portfolio of buildings is: Town Hall Extension; the Aquatics Centre; National Cycling Centre; Arcadia Library & Leisure Centre; East Manchester Leisure Centre; Hough End Leisure Centre; Moss Side Leisure Centre; North City Family & Fitness Centre; Wythenshawe Forum; Sharp Project; Space Project and Zion Arts Centre.
A submission to PSDS3 has been made for £5.90m (£1.43m match funding). The outcome is expected in December 2021. The focus of round 3 is on decarbonisation of heat projects and must include a project that decarbonises part or all of the heating within a building. The existing system must be near end of life and if successful, projects must commence by April 2022. The portfolio of buildings is: Active Lifestyles Centre; Claremont Resource Centre; Didsbury Library; Hall Lane Resource Centre; The Place at Platt Lane; One Central Park and the National Football Museum.
1.4: The Council has worked with Local Partnerships to prepare an updated large scale energy generation report for submission to the Senior Management Team on 14 December 2021, proceeding to the Environment & Climate Change Scrutiny Committee on 13 January 2022, the Executive Committee on 19 January 2022, and Full Council on 02 February 2022. The report requests delegated powers to enter into commercial negotiations to enable speedy project progress to purchase a solar asset and or a power purchase agreement.
1.6: The gas connection for the Civic Quarter Heat Network was completed in October 2021 and the Energy Centre is now in the live commissioning phase. Connection tests have been completed and the Combined Heat and Power engine (CHP) is operational. Commissioning of the boilers is also underway. The thermal connections to the off-taking buildings (with the exception of the Town Hall due in 2023/24) will be completed by mid-December 2021. Contracts for the commissioning period (up to 31st December 2021) are in effect. On completion of this period, TradeCo will enter into contract with nPower for gas and electricity supply and electricity export (from 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2025).
1.8: The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator (SHDFD) Scheme costs have increased due to Treasury’s view on the VAT where the scheme works are part of a larger refurbishment, 20% rather than 5% as budgeted. One Manchester has removed the privately-owned properties from the scheme to accommodate the additional costs.
1.10: The Local Area Energy Plan for Manchester has been produced by the Energy Systems Catapult as part of a wider Greater Manchester Local Energy Market Project. The Director of Strategic Development has been briefed on the key findings of the Local Area Energy Plan and discussions are underway on how to take forward.
1.11: The Manchester Low Carbon Building standard will be adopted for any new developments as part the land disposal process.