Decentralised Energy

London – What Future for CHP and District Heating?

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Admin

November 2011: Slides from a recent presentation made by Peter North, Senior Manager of the GLA’s Sustainable Energy Team. Includes information on the GLA’s new Decentralised Energy Project Delivery Unit (DEPDU). Further information on London’s DE plans can be found in Chapter 4 – Securing a Low Carbon Energy Supply for London – of the Mayor’s recent Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy, as well as in the 2009 report ‘Powering Ahead‘.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Enfield Gasification Scheme

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Admin

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 , , , , | Leave a comment

Decentralised Energy project in West Drayton

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Admin

13 November 2011: A new development in West Drayton of 89 two, three, four and five bedroom houses will have heat supplied from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit based in an onsite energy centre, currently under construction.  Each home will contain a Heat Interface Unit (HIU) to control heating and hot water, providing substantial benefits to residents in helping to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint. Read further detail here.
When finalised the heat network, developed by E.ON,  will eventually stretch across 773 homes, an 80-bed care home, a medical centre and four retail units.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Greenwich Peninsula Decentralised Energy Project Update

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Admin

November 2011: Greenwich Council has issued a tender for services in relation to the construction of a district heating network across this major London redevelopment site. The tender states that “The Greenwich Penninsula Project is a major regeneration scheme involving 67 development plots. As part of this development and in support of low carbon initiatives a district heating system will be installed to provide heating and hot water to the development utilising low carbon energy technology. The scope of this enquiry is for the architecturl design of the buildings to house all the equipment including Biomass Boilers and CHP units.”

Further information on the Greenwich Peninsula DE project is available on:

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

London’s Decentralised Energy Programme Delivery Unit

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Admin

November 2011: The GLA have appointed engineering consultants Arup to provide services to support the development of  decentralised energy (DE) schemes in London, through the provision of  technical, commercial and financial advisory support.
The contract with Arup runs from September 2011 to August 2014 and will resource a new Decentralised Energy Programme Delivery Unit (DEPDU). Further information on the previous round of this programme www.londonheatmap.org

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Three schemes bid to generate heat and power from North London’s waste

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Admin

October 2011: Three bids have been submitted to the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) to generate energy from the 300,000 tonnes of solid recovered fuel (SRF)  created from the 500,000 to 600,000 tonnes of North London’s waste that cannot be recycled  or composted.
The NWLA is a statutory waste authority managing the disposal of municipal waste from seven London local authorities (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest) and this procurement is one of two that NLWA is running to provide a “long term and sustainable waste management solution for North London”.  A separate procurement is being run that will involve recycling or composting half of North London’s waste, producing the fuel and minimising the landfilling of municipal waste.
The contract for the use of SRF will be available from 2015 for up to 25 years and the NLWA states that it “is striving to achieve the most efficient form of energy recovery. This could be with the fuel being used in a Combined Heat and Power (‘CHP’) plant, located close to where the energy demand is.”
The NWLA have provided updated details of the three bids, all of which utilise CHP technology  on the following news release.

  • Covanta Energy project is the only one based in London and is proposing a Combined Heat and Power plant at the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery site at Silvertown, East London. The Covanta proposal involves the transport by barge of SRF from Edmonton to Silvertown and this will support the further development of London rivers for freight transport use. Covanta will shortly begin consultations with the local community and relevant authorities ahead of a planning application in mid 2012.
  • E.ON/Wheelabrator Technologies is proposing a CHP plant at DS Smith Paper’s site at Kemsley Mill, Sittingbourne, Kent.
  • Veolia Environmental Services (UK) wants a CHP enabled power plant at an existing industrial site in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.

The winning proposal will be selected from one of the three shortlisted candidates during the next 12 months using an evaluation framework that focuses on the quality and cost of the solution.
Further information on how SRF is produced is set out by the NWLA here.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

London’s first council owned energy company

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Admin

8 October 2011:  The Islington Gazette reports that “The Bunhill Energy Centre, in Central Street, Clerkenwell, is due to be ready for the start of winter next year and will provide cheaper energy for more than 700 homes in the south of the borough.” Read full article here.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

London Combined Heat and Power output falls

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Admin

October 2011: DECC have just released their annual regional breakdown of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) statistics, providing further detail to the CHP chapter of DECC’s annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics, published in July of this year.
The statistics for London released indicate that:

  • 188 Good Quality CHP schemes were operational in  London as at the end of 2010
  • These schemes amount to a total electrical capacity of 185 MWe and total thermal capacity of 372MWth
  • They produced a total of 631GWh electricity and 1,680GWh heat – a total of 2,311 GWh energy
  • Unlike many other regions, London does not have many large-scale industrial CHP schemes, which have typically long operational hours. Hence the overall load factor of London CHP schemes is low – the second lowest in the UK – at only 39.8%
  • Importantly, whilst there has been a marginal increase in the number of CHP schemes operating in London (3 more in 2010) overall CHP generation capacity in London has decreased from 200MWe in 2009 to 185MWe. This is in despite an increase in overall increase in UK CHP capacity by over 500MWe.
  • Additionally, when compared to last year’s statistics, the output from CHP plant in the capital has also fallen. CHP data as at the end of 2009 shows that CHP output stood at 746 GWh electricity and 2,414 GWh heat – a total of 3,160GWh of energy (see last year’s DECC Energy Trends September 2010 for details). Hence, as compared to the statistics just released, CHP energy output has dropped a significant 27% in the capital over one year. It’s difficult to determine exactly what is happening here without access to more detailed data for London from DECC – especially in relation to those schemes which may have retired.
  • Note: there is a minor error in the latest Energy Trends article. Tables 5 & 6 suggest that 200MW CHP is operating in 2010. However, the report’s authors have clarified to energy for london that the correct capacity is 185 MWe and that:
  • in Table 5 of the article, CCGT+GTs+STs should be 80 MWe and NOT 95 MWe. This will make the total for London 185 MWe, and consistent with Tables 1+2
  • in Table 6 the London figure under the ’10 MWe and greater’ column should be 66 MWe and NOT 81MWe. This again will make the total for London 185 MWe, and consistent with Tables 1+2
Posted in Data Store, Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hospital Heat and Power at Guy’s and St. Thomas’

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Admin

September 2011: Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust have hosted a tour of their two Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants which have, since their commissioning in 2009,  helped the Trust reduce CO2 emissions at the hospitals by a total of almost 11,300 tons per year and save more than £1.5 million in energy costs annually. Further information is detailed on the following news release.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Walking Tour of Renewable Energy Generation in Dalston

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Admin

September 2011: Arcola Energy’s Green Sunday event is to host a walking tour of renewable energy generation in Dalston. The Dalston Renewable Energy Walk will:

“meet at Arcola Theatre at 1.30pm for a walk around several inspiring projects in the neighbourhood. Our tour starts with the solar panels at the Dalston Roof Park, where Sam Aldenton from The Bootstrap Company will explain how they went about creating one of the largest solar roofs in the UK. From there, we move on to quietrevolution’s wind turbine installation at the Kinetica building on Ramsgate Street to hear from the company’s Stephen Crosher on how turbines can be installed on new and existing buildings. After a stop at the Dalston Square Energy Centre to check out their biomass-fired combined heat and power (CHP) system, we’ll head back to the Arcola around 4.15pm for a discussion of  the different systems we have seen and our plans for greening the theatre’s systems.”

Posted in Decentralised Energy, News, Renewable Energy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Decentralised Energy powering Westfield

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Admin

September 2011: Though there was a lot of coverage on the launch of the new Stratford Westfield shopping centre, there was little mention of the new high efficiency decentralised energy system installed providing the heat and power onsite.  The press material released by Westfield states that 75% of all Stratford City’s electrical power will be met through an on-site Combined Cooling, Heat and Power Plant (CCHP).  It goes on to say that the building was designed with a number of energy efficiency measures including the “use of natural light, effective insulation, high efficiency lighting, heating and cooling and control of solar gain will ensure the buildings are at least 10% more energy efficient than required by Building Regulations”.

The press release states that “efficient building design and on-site CCHP will help achieve carbon reduction targets of 50% by 2020” – which needs to be further clarified (ie which carbon reduction targets, and 50% of what baseline?).

Some further useful information and graphics are provided in the following Marks and Spencers presentation which highlights that:

  • the Westfield M&S is 30% more energy efficient than other M&S stores
  • the store achieves a 44% improvement on heating/cooling operational carbon efficiency by using CCHP
  • 99.5% of cooling is delivered through the on-site CCHP; and
  • a 100% per cent of heating from the on-site CCHP
Posted in Decentralised Energy, News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Connecting Decentralised Energy to London’s Electricity Network

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Admin

September 2011: Back in May Ofgem issued an ‘open letter’ requesting views from the distributed generation (also commonly called decentralised generation) industry of their experience of connecting projects to the local electricity network. Ofgem’s letter sets out that they:

“consider  that the efficient development  of distributed generation  could play an important role in addressing a number of key policy issues.   These include helping the UK to achieve its targets for reduced carbon emissions as well as improving the  security of energy  supply and  addressing  fuel poverty issues. To this end,  we have endeavoured to ensure that  those seeking to connect  distributed  generation to the network  do not encounter any unnecessary barriers resulting from the way that the electricity distribution networks are operated and regulated.”

The increased use of decentralised energy is a key element of London’s energy strategy, and the Mayor has established a target for 25% of London’s heat and power to be sourced by localised DE schemes by 2025.

Ofgem have now published a useful ‘High Level Summary’ of responses which highlights the difficulities that DE operators experience when bringing forward a project. This includes the:

  • Limited and inconsistent distribution network data available to generators
  • Costly processes ranging from connection assessments to legal fees
  • Prohibitively complex grid code requirements placed on these smaller distributed generation systems.

No regional aspects are highlighted in the findings – that is – is it any harder/easier to connect DE to London’s electricity distribution system (operated by UK Power Networks in the main and also SSE in SW London) than anywhere else, however, if London is to significantly increase its use of DE, the numerous barriers identified by smaller generators that currently exist need to be removed.

Posted in Decentralised Energy, Library, News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment