Southwark Council and its recycling and waste partner, Veolia Environmental Services have announced that they are to ‘fully realise’ the heat potential of the South East London Combined Heat and Power energy recovery facility (SELCHP).
Through a £7 million investment, a new pipe network will be built to supply heating and hot water to five estates in the borough, marking the first time that the heating potential of the SELCHP facility has been fully realised since it was built in 1990s by CNIM SA.
According to Veolia, since its inception, the SELCHP facility has generated electricity that fed into the National Grid, but until now, the ‘extraction of heat in the form of hot water that is created as part of the energy process, has not been possible’.
Technology details
The new technology works by burning non-recyclable waste to provide heat to residents through a pipeline network. A pipe system and equipment is currently being installed both at SELCHP and on several local estates, and a ‘going live’ date has been set for 31 October 2013. Once live, the network will bring the total amount of homes supplied by district heating to over 60 per cent.
Once complete, the existing gas boilers on the five estates in Rotherhithe will be switched off. The new system, contracted to run for 20 years, is estimated to save 7,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
The council has said at the end of the contract, it will decide whether to retain the scheme or revert back to the traditional supply of gas.
Councillor Barrie Hargrove, Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment, and Recycling (pictured right, in front of Managing Director of SELCHP, Simon Bussell) said: “We are delighted to be pioneering such an innovative scheme which will undoubtedly bring about credible benefits not only to our local residents but to the country as a whole. Realising the full potential of the SELCHP facility for the first time means that heat provision can be delivered in a cleaner and more cost effective way.
“As the first London borough to take such a positive step, we are signalling our strong commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions and keeping Southwark an environmentally friendly zone.”
Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia Environnement Director of Northern Europe and UK Country Director, added: “We are delighted to be partnering Southwark Council with this ground breaking £7 million scheme in this innovative project which will become the second major district heating network [after Sheffield] we operate in the UK.”
How the power is generated
The facility processes around 430,000 tonnes of household and business waste a year. Waste is fed into a chute onto a sloped grate, where it is ‘constantly turned to allow all combustion phases (such as drying, ignition and combustion itself) to happen simultaneously’ and to ensure a constant high temperature is maintained.
Ash produced by the burning process is transferred by an ash discharger and residue handling system to an ash pit. During the transfer, ferrous metals are removed for recycling and the remaining ash is sent for reprocessing into recycled material for road building or construction use.
Any hot gases produced in the combustion process pass through a water tube boiler where they are cooled and transformed into steam. A turbo-generator then uses the steam to produce electricity, which is generated at 11 kilovolts (kV) and transformed up to 132kV for export to the London Electricity system, close to the SELCHP facility.
The gases from the boiler go through a complex flue gas cleaning process, involving the injection of dilute ammonia solution to reduce nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and water; lime milk to neutralise acid gases and activated carbon to absorb heavy metals and any remaining dioxins.
Finally the particulate matter dust is removed from the gas stream by a bag filter before the cleaned gas is released to air. The resultant material known as Air Pollution Control Residue (APC residue) is sent for disposal at a licensed hazardous waste site.
Greater efficiency
Commenting on the scheme, Estelle Brachlianoff said: “In simple terms we are providing heat and hot water for local residents from their rubbish which is unsuitable for recycling. The great news is there is capacity for more buildings to join the SELCHP network and there are already interested potential customers. This will increase the facility’s efficiency even further and shows the circular economy in action.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added: “It is fantastic that SELCHP will soon be providing low carbon, low cost heating to homes in South East London through a new heat network, something I am working hard to encourage more of across the capital. Local heat and power supplies not only save Londoners money and reduce carbon emissions but also help to provide London with a more secure, sustainable, cost-effective energy supply.”
Read more on the SELCHP facility.
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