Tommyfield plugs into solar power

Market goes green . . . Councillor Abdul Jabbar with the solar panels that will save £9,000 a year in Tommyfield electricity bills

OLDHAM Council has gone a bit greener by fitting solar panels to Tommyfield Market Hall.

The council has installed the array with the aim of saving £9,000 a year. Electricity generated from the 110kw panels will power the hall and save around 50 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, cabinet member for finance and human resources, said: “Over the next financial year the council needs to make savings of £19 million, so we need to come up with innovative ways of saving money.

“The roof of the market is a perfect site for this array. It will be our flagship green project for 2016.”

Proposals are also being considered to install solar panels on other council-owned buildings across the borough.

Oldham already boasts the largest biomass-fuelled district heating network in the UK and the award-winning Warm Homes Oldham scheme for residents.

The borough’s climate change strategy ambitiously wants to cut carbon emissions in half in the next five years.