The Thames Mobile Heat Consortium, which also includes storage technology company Sunamp, will take heat from along the river – from Cory’s Riverside EfW plant, located in Belvedere, store it in Sunamp thermal batteries and transport it via barge to major heat consumers.
The Thames Mobile Heat Consortium is said to be in discussion with a number of potential heat consumers along the river and has recently completed a feasibility study.
The project will use phase change thermal storage, developed by Sunamp and the University of Edinburgh.
The batteries use a salt-based, non-toxic, long-duration phase change material (PCM), and will be housed in specially designed shipping containers, making them easy to transport by barge.
When transporting heat, the thermal batteries remain on the barge at all times. At the discharge location, a water pipe is run out along a jetty and draws heat from the batteries via an internal heat exchanger.
Cory will oversee the marine logistics of the project. This would be run as an independent logistics operation from Cory’s waste transfer operation.
One potential consumer is the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU), owned and operated by Westminster City Council, considering it as one of several options for decarbonisation.
According to Cory, PDHU is the oldest district heating scheme in the UK, supplying over 3,000 homes and 50 commercial and community buildings, and originally took waste heat from Battersea Power Station.
Cory said that if the Thames Mobile Heat Consortium does supply the PDHU, it has the scope to provide c.50GWh of heat per year, which is currently provided by large gas boilers.
From completion of planning and approvals and final commercial agreement, Cory said this could be operational in less than a year.
‘Valuable resource’
Chris Girdham, development director of Cory, said: “At Cory, we are proud to provide a vital public service which diverts non-recyclable waste from landfill. The EfW process produces huge amounts of heat, and rather than seeing this valuable resource go to waste we want to use it to benefit communities in the UK which are seeking to cut carbon emissions and keep energy bills down.
By moving heat to where it’s most needed, we can help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and maintain the UK’s role as a clean energy innovator.”
David Carter, co-founder and CEO of Sheen Parkside, said: “Over a third of the UK’s territorial carbon footprint comes from burning gas and oil for heating. At the same time, the country wastes a huge of amount of high-grade industrial heat, simply because it’s in the wrong place.
“Using thermal batteries, we can move that heat efficiently. These mobile heat networks can be set up rapidly, flexibly and at scale.”
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