East London to get £80m waste plant at Ford Dagenham site
Elaine Brass
10th December 2009
London is to get an £80 million waste plant to process almost 100,000 tonnes of the capital’s annual waste into green energy and power over 15,000 local homes.
The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWRB) has guaranteed £12 million in funding to the East London Sustainable Energy Facility. The waste plant, which will be the first of its kind in London and the largest in the UK, will be situated at the Ford factory in Dagenham.
The energy facility is being developed by renewable energy and biomass company Bioessence Ltd and will use ‘Advanced Thermal Conversion’ gasification technology to process the waste. It will be broken down into a mixture of synthetic gas fuel and inert residue. Once cleaned, the synthetic gas will be burnt to generate electricity.
The plant will generate 18 to 20 megawatts (MW) of electrical power and approximately 10 MW of thermal power. The majority of the power will be sold to Ford and the balance will be exported to the National Grid. A small amount of the power will be consumed by the facility itself.
Bioessence has entered into a 15-year exclusive contract with Shanks East London to supply 60 per cent biomass, solid recoverable fuel processed from municipal waste that would have otherwise gone to landfill, from its nearby Frog Island and Jenkins Lane Mechanical Biological Treatment plants.
The East London Sustainable Energy Facility supports the Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s policy to generate 25 per cent of London's energy from local sources by 2025. The Mayor chairs the LWRB, which is working in conjunction with London boroughs and has a budget of £84 million to spend over three years to improve waste management in the capital through increased recycling, minimising waste generation and finding more environmentally friendly ways to process rubbish.
Mayor Boris Johnson commented: "As the world meets to discuss climate change, London is taking practical action to tackle all aspects of waste that damages our environment. There are millions to be made from the capital's waste if we turn it into a resource, as this innovative project in east London is set to do. Not only will this help cut carbon and divert waste from landfill, it will create welcome green collar jobs.”