'Manchester is the perfect partner to help us drive the journey to net zero'

SSE Energy Solutions is proud to be sponsoring the Greater Manchester Green Summit 2022. 

Now in its fifth year, the event will be held at The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays next Monday, October 17, hosted by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

Indeed, it was the ambition shown by the mayor to reduce carbon emissions by a million tonnes over three years that convinced us Manchester was the perfect city to host our Decarbonisation Summit earlier this year.

We share the mayor’s ambitions and we are already working with him to achieve his goals. Later this year we will unveil a new ultra-fast EV charging hub in the city, one of a network of 300 we plan to open across the UK and Ireland over the next five years.

We also unveiled a model of what could be the ‘EV Hub of the future’ given its canopy is made from recycled wind turbine blades. The idea came from our own employee innovation app called ‘iDEas’ and would use end-of-life wind turbine blades; stripping them back and cutting them into canopies that offer protection from the elements for users of EV charging hubs.

While rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dame Sarah Storey, Greater Manchester's active travel commissioner, was very exciting, we did emphasise to her why we need landowners such as local authorities and businesses to work with us to establish not only locations for EV infrastructure but also where there is suitable land to put it in place. 

As well as being a perfect opportunity to meet and network with people who are determined to drive change, this year’s Green Summit will seek input from businesses, policymakers, local communities and industry on how the city-region should accelerate action on its environment plan. 

At SSE Energy Solutions, we