Viridor has signed an agreement with the London Borough of Sutton’s energy services company, Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Limited (SDEN), to deliver heat generated at its Beddington site to a network in south London.
This initiative will distribute resilient supplies of hot water and heating to the new mixed use development, the New Mill Quarter with 725-homes, a supermarket, care home and offices.
The innovative project will initially use energy generated by the existing landfill gas power plant to provide heating to homes and businesses in Sutton, tying into the Mayor of London’s policies for decentralised energy networks as a way to maximise the efficiency of energy generation. This will be supplemented by the Combined Heat and Power enabled Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), due to be operational in 2018.
The Beddington ERF is the latest part of Pennon Group’s £1.5bn investment by Viridor in the UK’s national social infrastructure. Once operational, the facility will transform non-recyclable waste from the South London Waste Partnership (comprising the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton) into enough electricity to power around 30,000 homes. Throughout the planning and development stage it was intended that the ERF would anchor a district heating network.
Chris Jonas, director of business development for Viridor, said of the agreement: “Being able to sign an agreement with the London Borough of Sutton’s energy services company is a landmark moment in the project’s history.
“Developing a district heating network requires careful planning to ensure that the users of the heat will be able to make use of it effectively.
“Viridor has established a number of similar schemes, including the UK’s largest in Runcorn, we are delighted to be providing heating to residents in south London and look forward to supporting the network’s expansion.”
Cllr Jayne McCoy, chair of the housing, economy and business committee, said: “Here in Sutton we are determined to champion a sustainable future. Not only have we ensured delivery of a decentralised energy network through our own investment, we are capturing an energy source that would otherwise be wasted, when other UK decentralised energy schemes still rely on fossil fuels to generate the initial heat.”