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Combined Heat And Power For London

Posted: 08/03/2006

The Combined Heat and Power Association (CHPA) have welcomed the recent announcement by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone that the London Climate Change Agency will be setting up a joint company with CHPA-member EDF Energy to develop sustainable energy projects in London.

Livingstone said: "The issue of Climate Change is shooting up the list of priorities for Londoners. We must take bold steps to address global warming and it is essential that we become more efficient in the way we produce, distribute and use energy. The partnership with EDF Energy places London at the forefront of tackling climate change by encouraging the use of combined heat and power and renewable energy. Not only could this lead to a more secure and sustainable energy supply for London, but also to reduced household bills".

CHPA Director Phil Piddington commented: "As a key form of decentralised generation, CHP has a powerful role in efficiently providing the energy needs of homes and businesses in London, whilst also helping reduce CO2 emissions.

"A recent study commissioned by the Greater London Authority found that around a fifth of all homes in London could be connected to CHP through community heating networks, providing clean low cost energy to customers currently struggling with rising fuel bills.

"We look forward to working with the new company established by EDF Energy and the Agency to deliver this huge opportunity".

Community heating is a highly energy efficient way of providing heat(and often electricity) to homes and other buildings. A central heat source - often a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant using gas or renewable fuels - connects to multiple local buildings through the use of a heat network.

A typical community heating scheme can help combat climate change by delivering major cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide. Community heating also costs less - in a time of rising energy prices, community heating ensures that more Londoners can afford to heat their homes.

The Government's target is to double UK CHP capacity to 10,000 MWe by 2010. Latest statistics show that every 1 MWe of CHP operating in the UK helps reduce carbon emissions by between 600 - 800 tonnes every year. Current installed CHP capacity of approximately 5,700 MWe, on over 1,500 sites across the UK, is already helping deliver savings of over four million tonnes of carbon annually, one of the largest
single carbon reduction measures in the Government's Climate Change Programme.

London has approximately 175MWe of CHP capacity. The Mayor's Energy Strategy for London seeks to double the level of CHP use by the end of the decade.

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