Decentralised Energy

September 2012: Key to the proposed North London Waste Plan (NWLP) – currently under development – is the development of a new ‘Mechnical and Biological Treatment’ (MBT) plant at the former Friern Barnet Sewage Works at Pinkham Way. An independent planning inspector has however recently ruled that the Plan has not been properly consulted on with neighbouring boroughs and hence developers (see below) for the project  must look again at resubmitting their proposals.

The NWLP sets out the planning framework to 2027 for waste management in the seven North London boroughs – Haringey, Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest – which together are known as the North London Waste Authority (NWLA) . It identifies sites for waste management use and sets out policies for determining waste planning applications.The Plan has been under development now for several years, and the inspector’s decision will now knock the timetable for the adoption of the councils’ proposals.

The planning application for the Pinkham Way is a separate process to the overall plan and is currently on hold. The ‘mythbusters’ section of the NWLA website sets out that the MBT to be based there will be used to “manufacture a solid fuel from waste that is left over after as much recyclable material as possible has been extracted; that fuel will then be transported to one of two sites outside of north London where there is a need for energy (heat and electricity).” This type of fuel is usually called SRF or solid recovered fuel.

The website goes on to say that “NO waste incineration will take place on the site, and no plans are being made to accommodate incineration at Pinkham Way now or in the future.”

NWLA also state that “The carbon impacts of waste are mostly in the treatment of the waste rather than in its transportation, but even so we are seeking to have the Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) delivered to the fuel-user by rail or water transport to minimise this. It is also important to note that we are making SRF precisely so that the maximum carbon benefits of combined heat and power can be reaped at a location where a suitable demand exists. The alternative would be to build a new incinerator that recovers only electricity and that wastes the heat; and this is very specifically what we are not proposing to do.”

A lot more information on the NWLA’s proposals – and the active campaign directed against them – is provided at the pinkhamwayincinerator.blogspot.co.uk website.