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Tag Archives: Waste
Enfield Gasification Scheme
21 November 2011: An update on Irish developer Kedco’s plans to develop a biomass gasification scheme in Enfield which it believes have become more positive as a result of the recent proposed changes to the renewable obligation
The project received planning permission in October 2010 to build a c. £45 million biomass wood gasification plant in Enfield capable of generating 12MW of electricity and 10MW of heat and – as the article linked above explains – has secured a supply deal with a company processing waste wood from construction and demolition. Kedco report that tenders currently being prepared to source a suitable contractor for the proposed construction of the plant. Details submitted at the time of application in relation to a ‘heat output assessment’ for the facility can be viewed here and para 6.3.1 onwards of the planning officer’s report (report also here) on the application provide details of the scheme’s proposals to export heat to some nearby sites.
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News
Tagged Biomass, CHP, Decentralised Energy, Enfield, Waste
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Proposed Croydon Energy from Waste plant
November 2011: The Croydon Guardian reports that “Viridor is being presented by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP), as its preferred bidder for a controversial new waste management plant for Croydon, Merton, Kingston and Sutton…The facility could produce enough energy to power thousands of homes, processing more than 200,000 tonnes of waste a year from the four boroughs.”
Further information on Council’s discussions around the plant can be found here.
Details of the SLWP’s activities can be found here.
Gasification scheme proposed in Bexley
October 2011: A site in Bexley, the borough which is home to a the new Belvedere incinerator, is also being examined for a new waste to energy gasification power plant. The scheme, to be developed by waste company Cyclamax, is proposing to build the facility at Burts Wharf Resource Park, off Crabtree Manorway North. Further information in the following article. Further information on the Belvedere scheme here.
More challenging times for renewables in London?
21 October 2011: The Government’s proposals for future Renewable Obligation (RO) banding levels for different renewable electricity levels have been published today for consultation. The bands set the level of subsidy provided through granting Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) – awarded per MWh (megawatt-hour) of electricity generated – and range from 0.5 ROCs to 2 ROCs per MWh depending on the technology. The ROCs programme runs in tandem to the Feed in Tariffs (FIT) mechanism but is applicable to larger renewable technologies, generally above 5MW capacity.
The consultation moves to providing longer term guidance on the levels of support available to renewable generators whilst also reducing the levels of ROCs support awarded to many technologies and also introducing an element of regression as in the FIT regime (ie a percentage reduction to the levels of support year on year).
Progress on developing larger renewable energy projects in London has been incredibly slow, with only a few notable schemes based around the use of sewage gas at water treatment plant, the capture of landfill gas, and single larger-scale wind project.
DECC’s proposals will do little to help and potentially much to hinder the situation for London. Key renewable technologies being supported for London such as advanced gasification and pyrolysis are to have their levels of support reduced (see Table 2 of the consultation paper for the full list of specific proposals). These are already high risk projects and hence this will do little to get these nascent technologies off the ground. Ditto for urban-based anaerobic digestion plant which are also having their levels of support reduced.
Similarly reducing support to energy from waste CHP without clarifying the level of Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) tariff that might also be available will do little to inspire confidence in operators considering converting their plant to CHP mode and investing in new district heating infrastructure. Cities are already severely limited in their ability to contribute to the UK’s ambitious renewable energy targets: waste does however provide a key opportunity but project costs are typically much higher due to land value amongst many other factors.
More needs to be done to support the growth of renewables in London and other cities to exploit opportunities to deliver low carbon heat and power to their communities. Government should perhaps consider introducing a ‘ROC uplift’ for urban based schemes to help bring these more challenging city renewable schemes forward – that is – an additional 0.5 to 1.0 ROCs for those schemes developed in cities, with a priority given to those that deliver decentralised heat networks as part of their scheme.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
October 2011: This month the Mayor answered London Assembly questions in relation to: a Decent Homes successor standard; the level of interest in the London Energy Efficiency Fund; GLA buildings Energy reduction targets; Green Deal finance and Green Deal lobbying; Fuel Poverty; the Mayor’s support to the Warm Homes Amendment; Funding of waste to energy projects and additional detail on waste to energy schemes and three questions on AD: Anaerobic Digesters (1), Anaerobic Digesters (2) and Anaerobic Digesters (3)
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Giant Belvedere incinerator enters operational phase
19 October 2011: EDIE news article on the new waste to energy plant in Bexley: “One of Europe’s biggest energy recovery plants, the Belvedere incinerator, is about undergo detailed assessment and performance trials before it officially opens in 2013.” Read full article on link above. Further information on the scheme can be read in a briefing note prepared following a visit to the site by local councillors.
Mayor overturns Merton refusal to allow development of new AD scheme
October 2011: Following Merton Council’s planning application refusal , the Mayor has today approved waste management firm Sita’s plans for an anaerobic digestion and material recycling facility in Mitcham. Sita can now build an anaerobic digestion plant handling 40,000t of waste per year, down from the original scheme of 100,000t of waste. It will deliver between 1.1 and 1.7 megawatts of electricity, enough to power the site and export around 8 GWh (gigawatt hours) of electricity per year – equivalent to powering around 2,000 homes – exporting around 6.2 GWh of power to the grid per year.
The detailed planning report on the Sita application can be accessed via the Merton’s Planning Application’s Committee meeting of 8 September 2011. The original energy statement for the development, an updated energy statement responding to queries raised by the GLA, and a district heating study for the immediate area around the anaerobic digestion plan in Merton are all available to download from the Merton’s planning website here [word search for ‘energy’ to quickly locate all three documents].
Some additional useful information is provided in articles at the Wimbledon Guardian and at letsrecycle.com
New Hackney Waste to Energy Plant proposed
August 2011: An article in this weekend’s Hackney Citizen highlights the recent consultation by Tower Hamlets on the Fish Island Area Action Plan (AAP), which includes consideration of a new waste to energy plant.
The Fish Island AAP states: “The Council requires a new waste management facility in the Borough to handle approximately 150,000 tonnes of waste per annum and is exploring the potential to use emerging technologies to generate energy from the waste.” and that
“There is an opportunity to develop a new green waste to energy facility in Fish Island south” which could be connected to “the waste management facility to the Olympic Energy Centre to create an area-based zero or low carbon energy network for new developments in Fish Island.”
The article goes on to quote London Assembly’s Darren Johnson who says of the proposal: “We need to look at new ways of dealing with waste as we cannot continue sending it off to landfill sites outside London. But getting the right sort of technology is absolutely vital. Mass burn incinerators are an outdated polluting technology and we certainly don’t want to see any more of those in London. There is a role for more sophisticated energy from waste plants, particularly anaerobic digestion which produces green energy from food waste.”
The consultation includes a specific question on the proposal asking: Do you agree with the principle of a borough waste to energy facility located in Fish Island? If so, how should a site be identified? – however this phase of consultation finished on 15 July 2011.
Posted in News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Olympics, Planning, Renewable Energy, Tower Hamlets, Waste
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Recycling Cooking Oil in London
July 2011: The Committee on Climate Change are currently undertaking a review of bioenergy and took a trip to have a look at the work of Uptown Oil who collect used cooking oil from about a thousand sources in London – including Young’s pubs, Selfridges and Hackney Borough Council – to produce biodiesel.
A Business Green article published last week highlighted that Carluccio’s Restaurant chain – which has around 20 cafes in London – announced that it has signed a deal with biofuel firm Convert2Green to be converted into biofuel. Other biofuel suppliers in London include:
Uptown Oil based in Borough
Pure Fuels based in Edmonton
Proper Oils who work with a Croydon Council collection scheme
Uptown have also been selected to supply biofuel to PWC’s new HQ whose energy will be partially supplied by a trigeneration scheme (combined heat and power with cooling) – one of London’s only biofuelled CHP schemes.
Figures for the amount of cooking oil collected in London and be turned into biofuel do not appear to be available, however, a study reported on by the London Assembly in 2009 indicated that 37,000 tonnes of used cooking oil is available in London and the DfT’s latest biofuel statistics state that the “largest single feedstock for UK biofuel was used cooking oil (314m litres, 26% of total biofuel supplied)“. London’s Draft Waste Municipal Waste Strategy commits that the “Mayor will, through his Food to Fuel Alliance, aim to catalyse at least five exemplar food waste projects in London…the Alliance will support food waste projects that generate renewable heat and power (including transport fuel), and compost material for local use.”
Posted in News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Biofuels, Croydon, Enfield, Renewable Energy, Southwark, Waste
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£16 million Waste Infrastructure Fund for London
July 2011: The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) LWARB has opened its second Waste Infrastructure fund. The deadline for Expressions of Interest (EOI) forms is midday on Friday 30 September for projects that meet the two following criteria:
• An £11 million waste infrastructure loan fund for projects that meet the strategic requirements of LWARB. LWARB has a particular interest in projects located outside of east London* as well as those projects that help to bridge the capacity gap in the capital.
• A £5 million programme which will fund innovative waste solutions, giving London the opportunity to showcase technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, gas to grid, and waste derived transport fuels. This programme will include brokering partnerships with various parties such as technology providers, off-takers and fuel suppliers.
£10m Anaerobic digestion loan fund launched
July 2011: Defra Minister Lord Henley has officially opened a £10m Loan Fund that will help finance anaerobic digestion (AD) infrastructure across England. The fund aims to lend up to £10m over the next four years, with individual loans of between £50,000 and £1m. WRAP will open the fund for the first round of applications from today until October 31st 2011. Further details are available in the ADLF Product Information Form. Responses to the Fund’s launch have been critical of Government policy on AD in a number of areas.
Posted in News, Renewable Energy
Tagged Anaerobic Digestion, Renewable Energy, Waste
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