London waste-to-energy green light

London — The Government has cleared Riverside Resource Recovery Ltd to establish a new energy-from-waste power plant in London. The 72 MW facility will be at Norman Road, Belvedere in the south east of the capital.

The decision was guided by the recommendations from the Public Inquiry Inspector who oversaw two public inquiries into the project plan in 2003 and 2005, according to Energy minister Malcolm Wicks. This, he said, included the conclusion that there would be ample residual waste to fuel the station even after London authorities achieve their “ambitious” recycling targets.

“This energy from waste station will be fuelled by waste which would otherwise have to go to landfill. London has a serious waste problem much of which it currently exports to landfill in the Home Counties,” Wicks said in a 15 June written statement.

Under RRRL’s initial proposal plan, the Norman Road plant will process around 585,000 tonnes of waste per annum over its expected 30-year lifespan. The majority of waste will be delivered in containers via the River Thames and off-loaded at a new jetty.

The waste combustion process will be monitored to ensure a minimum combustion temperature of 850°C. Heat energy will be recovered from he flue gasses through high efficiency boilers.

The unit on a brownfield site — a former Borax works — will export around 66MW of electricity —enough to power 66,000 homes — via underground cable. The project is expected to come on stream three years after the start of construction.