Super-efficient, locally fed power station comes to London

First ‘intelligent’ combined heat and power plant chalked for capital 

Work is set to begin in East London on what is billed as the country’s first ‘intelligent’ combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The “super-efficient” machine will be installed at the site of a National Grid gas pressure reduction station at Beckton – and will burn locally sourced vegetable oil, according to the company behind the plans, Blue-NG.
 
Marketed as “CHiP” (combined heat and intelligent power), the plant is to burn liquid biomass to generate electricity – but its output heat will be captured, used to heat the existing gas stream, and then used to create further electricity. It should be, on average, 72% efficient according to Andrew Mercer, chief executive of Blue-NG, a joint venture between the National Grid and clean energy company 2oc.  That compares to 51% efficiency for a combined-cycle gas turbine, or 35% for a coal-powered plant, Mercer said. “We use the gas stream as a mechanism for capturing heat and turning it into more electricity,” he explains. “Taken together, they beat nearly every other form of generation in terms of electrical efficiency.”
 
Blue-NG, which won planning permission for the plant last year, with backing from Greenpeace, is currently seeking the go-ahead for another in Southall, west London. Mercer hopes to start building both of them by mid-May, and to introduce the technology at a further six National Grid sites.
 
But the proposals have split NGOs. Campaign group Biofuelwatch opposed the plans, warning that market pressures, such as rising food prices, had in the past forced German companies into using less sustainable sources of biomass, such as imported palm oil. “Increased use of domestic rapeseed oil for bioenergy has been one of the prime causes of increasing palm oil imports into Europe,” said spokesperson Almuth Ernsting.
 
Greenpeace agreed that the challenge is to ensure the fuel is sustainably sourced. “We support strict sustainability criteria for any source of biofuel – and that’s where we’d be looking for strong steps from any company, including Blue-NG,” said Robin Oakley, Head of Climate Change.
 
Mercer confirmed that Blue-NG has signed what he called a “green handcuffs” agreement with the Greater London Authority, committing it to using sustainably sourced crops. “For our first two sites, vegetable oil will be sourced, grown, crushed and driven around within 50 miles of London,” he told Green Futures.
 
Oakley added that because biofuels and bioenergy are limited resources, they must be used in the most efficient way possible. “CHP is one of the most efficient options,” he said.

7 April 2009