Greater Manchester Local Energy Markets

A series of infographic maps and animation created for Greater Manchester Combined Authority introducing and explaining the future of clean energy, and how Greater Manchester will achieve carbon neutral status by 2038 through the introduction of Local Energy Markets.

Infographic depicting Greater Manchester Green City Region

Infographic depicting Greater Manchester's Local Green Hydrogen (H2) system

Infographic depicting Greater Manchester region and the smart energy system

Animation still: A scene of a street with a house snd 2 commercial buildings. The house is fitted with solar panels. A speech bubble above says “Solar”. We see a man and his son waving to the mum who is driving away in an electric vehicle, past an electric vehicle charge point. A speech bubble above the car says “Electric Vehicles”. Outside the commercial buildings are 2 women employees, and we can see a heat pump to the right of the buildings. A speech bubble above one of the buildings says “Low Carbon Heating”. In the background is a wind farm on a hill, along with pylons. A speech bubble above the wind farm says “Wind Turbines”.

Animation still of 2 hands holding smart phones. One is pressing a 'sell' button to sell energy and the other is pressing a 'buy' button to purchase energy. In the background w there a 3 people with speech bubbles above their heads interested in electric vehicle charging, wind farms and solar energy,

Animation still of the Greater Manchester regions of Trafford, Manchester and Rochdale. On the Trafford region there is a Green Energy Park, on Manchester there are multiple solar farms, and on Rochdale there are wind farms. Each of the regions also has visuals of local landmarks, residents and residential and commercial buildings.

Animation still: A city scene showing commercial, residential and public buildings - all with solar panels n them. In the foreground is a road with a car, next to a tram and plenty of trees. In the background are hills with many wind turbines and trees.

Animation still of all the Greater Manchester regions together. Each region displays a local landmark, in addition to wind turbines, solar farms, electric vehicle charging points, homes, commercial buildings and pylons. The landmarks shown are: Manchester Town Hall, Trafford Town Hall, Spindles Shopping Centre, Number One Riverside, Stopford House, Lady Bridge High School, Leigh Sports Village, Hyde Town Hall, Bury Market Hall, Salford Civic Centre.

Animation still of a a commercial building occupier taking part in early Local Energy Market research. On the right is a researcher understanding how they use Heat as a Service, to inform how it could be delivered in commercial buildings.

A lady outside of her house holding an iPad which controls the energy in her home. Her house has solar panels on the roof.

Animation still of 3 commercial buildings in a city centre with temperature dials above them. To the right of each building is an icon of a battery.

Animation still of a map of the UK displaying solar farms, wind turbines and pylons.

Video transcript

Audio	Visual
It’s no secret that generating energy from fossil fuels is bad for our planet and contributes to climate change. That’s why we’re making Greater Manchester a carbon neutral city-region by 2038.	An illustrated earth globe pops up and rotates as the words ‘Greater Manchester, carbon neutral by..’ appear. The year 2038 pops up in a speech bubble.
By changing how we produce and consumes energy.	A 3D map of Greater Manchester appears with each of the regions identified: ‘Wigan, Bolton Bury, Rochdale, Salford, Manchester, Oldham, Trafford, Tameside and Glossop, and Stockport.’
The current system that delivers our energy was built for gas & electricity created from fossil fuels, not wind turbines and solar panels!	This scene show pylons as they take electricity from power stations that are pumping carbon dioxide and pollution into the air.
We’re in the 21st century using a system that was designed for the 20th century!	The text on screen reads the audio.
Greater Manchester contributes more than 2.1m tonnes of carbon emissions per year.	The scene shows a street in Greater Manchester with a house and 3 high rise buildings. A man and his son outside of the house which has smoke coming out of the chimney as a petrol car goes past with fumes coming out of the exhaust. There are 2 women outside of the high rise buildings. In the background there are dull-coloured hills, on which stands pylons and a power station pumping carbon dioxide and pollution into the air.
How we achieve our goal of becoming a carbon neutral city region by 2038 relies on the greater uptake of clean, green technologies like solar, low carbon heating, wind turbines and electric vehicles.	The dull hills in the background change to a fresh green colour as the power station is replaced with wind turbines. The chimney on the house is replaced with solar panels as an electric car passes by. Heat pumps appear outside of the high rise buildings.
So how do we make sure we have the infrastructure to support the production, consumption, and distribution of clean, green energy?	A big question mark appears in a circle in the middle of the scene, surrounded by solar panels, wind turbines, pylons and buildings.
The Greater Manchester Local Energy Market project aims to present a detailed design for our energy systems…	This scene displays logos of organisations involved. The main ‘Greater Manchester Local Energy Market’ logo is display larger above the others which include: ‘Bruntwood, Cadent, Carbon Co-op, Cornwall Insight, Daikin, Electricity Northwest, Kaluza, Graham Oakes, Hitachi, Northwards Housing, OVO Energy, Catapult and Regen’.
…consisting of 3 key components.	Text on-screen reads: ‘Part 1: Local Area Energy Planning’.
We’re bringing together energy suppliers, local authorities, businesses and communities…	The scene shows the stakeholders mentioned in the audio, coming together to have their say in the conversation whilst a woman points at information on a whiteboard.
…to empower people to make informed decisions about energy consumption.	Speech bubbles appear from different groups of people who are talking about their interests and concerns which include wind turbines, heating homes, public transport and electric vehicle charging points.
By identifying what types of energy solutions will best meet local needs, energy planners can design secure, flexible new systems that put the needs of consumers at its heart.	A circle of items that represent local needs appears including; public transport, commercial buildings, cars, residential buildings, e-bikes, street lighting, and home heating. In the centre of the circle a consumer pops up and give a happy wink!
We believe that the GM Local Energy Market is the solution and the future of the production, consumption and distribution of energy.	Text on-screen reads: ‘Part 2: Local Energy Markets’.
But what is a Local Energy Market?	A big question mark appears in a circle in the middle of the scene.
A local energy market is a system of homes, businesses and energy generators that enable us to reduce carbon emissions, provide a more secure, flexible energy network and ensure homes are warmer through energy efficient measures.	A network of dotted lines animates in to represent the system, which is connecting energy generators (as represented by wind turbines, solar panels and pylons), with users (as represented by commercial & residential buildings with solar panels and heat pumps, people, indoor heating and electric vehicles and charging points.
	The scene shows 3 people from different stakeholder groups deciding on how they use, sell and purchase energy via speech bubbles above their heads; A woman in construction gear is thinking about electric vehicle energy. An energy generator representative is thinking about wind farms. A local resident is thinking about solar panels. We then see a hand with a smart phone appear on the left side of the scene, they press a button to sell their energy and we see another hand with a smart phone on the right side of the scene press a button to purchase energy.
By installing new technologies such as low carbon heating, solar panels and storage batteries, businesses and consumers will be able to use and store the energy they generate.	The next scene shows the same street from earlier on. This time we see solar panels on the house and the 2 high rise buildings, as well as heat pumps. We also see batteries increasing and depleting in energy as energy is bought and sold.
So how will this work?	Text on-screen reads: ‘Part 3: How will this work?’.
A Local Energy Market will introduce new energy services and tariffs which will optimise your energy bills.	An energy bill appears. A green arrow which moves down the bill to represent bill optimisation.
The GM Local Energy Market aims to connect homes and businesses through a platform to create smarter, secure, flexible energy systems that are fit for the future.	A network of dotted lines animates in connecting residential and commercial properties to energy generators represented by wind farms and solar panels.
An empowering platform giving consumers more flexibility and choice over their energy consumption, allowing consumers to buy and sell energy locally.	We revisit the street from earlier for the third time. This time we see the dad and his son ready to go on holiday in their electric vehicle. As they won’t be needing electricity whilst they are away – so we see a hand with a smart phone appear in the foreground which presses a ‘sell’ button to sell their energy.
We believe that Local Energy Markets are the future of clean green, secure, flexible, consumer focused energy…	A circle of items representing the network of Local Energy Markets appears including; wind turbines, commercial buildings, electric vehicles, pylons, solar panels, residential buildings, heat pumps, people, home heating and smart phones.
for Greater Manchester, the United Kingdom, qnd maybe even the planet.	The 3D map of Greater Manchester appears again, this time it it has multiple wind turbines and solar panels spread across the region. It is then replaced by a map of the United Kingdom, again with wind turbines and solar panels across the countries. Lastly we see the planet Earth.
To find out more about your Local Area Energy Planning and Greater Manchester Local Energy Market visit greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/localenergy	This scene displays the web address as well as the logos of organisations involved. The main ‘Greater Manchester Local Energy Market’ logo is display larger above the others which include: ‘Bruntwood, Cadent, Carbon Co-op, Cornwall Insight, Daikin, Electricity Northwest, Kaluza, Graham Oakes, Hitachi, Northwards Housing, OVO Energy, Catapult and Regen’.