Household rubbish could cut the energy bills for residents living on five London council estates.
Southwark council said its scheme to buy back cheap gas from its waste contractor could save some residents £50 on their annual bills.
The borough’s non-recyclable rubbish is burned and the energy created by water-heated turbines is sold to the National Grid. But there is spare heat left over.
The council wants to send it from the South East London Combined Heat and Power plant, in South Bermondsey, to 2,500 homes in Rotherhithe, through underground pipes for heating and hot water.
The plant is run and part-owned by Southwark’s waste contractor Veolia and the council will buy the power to create London’s first waste-to-heating system. It hopes to have the scheme running by Christmas.
Barrie Hargrove, Southwark’s cabinet member for transport, environment, and recycling said: “Realising the full potential of the SELCHP facility for the first time means heat can be delivered in a cleaner and more cost-effective way.”
The move was today welcomed by the Carbon Trust.
Public sector manager Helen Andrews Tipper said: “Local authorities see that local energy generation and heat networks can provide residents with lower heating bills and create a new source of income to deliver local services, as well as reducing carbon emissions, and we’re working with them to achieve that.”
