Leftover grease and oil from restaurants will power a new combined heat and power (CHP) station at Beckton in East London.
The plant, developed and run by 2OC and financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure, is set to produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity. Thames Water has agreed to buy 75 GWh of this output to run Beckton sewage works, which serves 3.5 million people, and the nearby desalination plant, which is operated in times of drought or other emergencies. The remaining power will be sold to the national energy grid.
The water firm has also committed to provide at least half of the fuel the generator requires to run – in the form of 30 tons a day of fat, oil and grease – enough to fill a six-meter-long shipping container – that would otherwise clog up London’s sewers. Leftover, low-grade cooking oil and food fat will be collected from food outlets and manufacturers. Solidified grease, such as from lamb and chicken, will be harvested from ‘fat traps’ in restaurant kitchens and from pinch-points around the capital’s sewer network. Thames Water already must spend $1.5 million a month clearing blockages in London’s sewers caused by solidified grease and oil. Now, that grease can help generate electricity. The rest of the power plant’s fuel will come from waste vegetable oils and animal fat.
Source: Energy Manager Today