The South East London Combined Heat and Power Plant (SELCHP) in Deptford, which became operational in February 1994, is jointly owned by current operator Veolia Environmental Services and consortium CNIM DEV.
The consortium comprises CNIM SA, an Engineer Procure Construct contractor that designed and constructed the energy recovery facility, and Cube Infrastructure Fund.
The plant was officially opened by HRH Prince Charles in 1994 and since its inception has supplied the National Grid with 35MW of electricity each year, enough to power 48,000 homes.
In December last year, a district heating scheme was launched at SELCHP as part of a 7 million investment by Veolia that sees the plant supply excess heat and hot water to 2,500 homes across a 5km underground network in the London borough of Southwark (see letsrecycle.com story).
In 1993, planners had previously struggled to find an outlet for the heat produced at the energy from waste facility until February 2008, when Veolia signed a 665 million PFI deal with Southwark council.
The project, which was fully backed by the DECC, Defra, and the Mayor of London, is expected to provide fixed energy rates for residents over the next 20 years.
At last years opening, Veolia UK and Northern Europe chief executive Estelle Brachlianoff said the plant could pave the way for further district heating scheme projects on a similar scale across London and the rest of the country.
Technology
Commenting on the 20 year milestone, SELCHPs general manager, Robbie Jameson, reflected on the technological advancements made at the facility since 1994.
He said: This is a momentous occasion for everybody who has been involved with this important facility over the last 20 years.
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The plant has undergone a lot of changes to ensure the technology used is constantly updated to be as advanced as possible. We are now in a position whereby both electricity and heat can be supplied back to the London communities whose waste our site manages.
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