South East London Combined Heat and Power, better known as SELCHP, is a major

energy from waste Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) refers to a series of processes designed to convert waste materials into usable forms of energy, typically electricity or heat. As a form of energy recovery, WtE plays a crucial role in both wa ...

incineration plant in

Bermondsey Bermondsey ( ) is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It was designed to generate both heat and electricity. The plant can generate up to 35 MegaWatts of power using a steam turbine in electricity only mode. It can incinerate up to 420,000 tonnes per year of

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the American English, United States and rubbish in British English, Britain, is a List of waste types, waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. ...

History

In 1986, faced with the increasing scarcity and the environmental problems of

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

, the local authorities of

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

came together to identify an alternative. In 1988, they formed an organisation - the South East London Combined Heat and Power Consortium - from which SELCHP now takes its name. The plans were taken forward by several Councillors, notably David Sullivan and Angela Cornforth of Lewisham and Len Duvall of Greenwich. A Lewisham Officer, Richard Siggers, was appointed as the first Project Manager. SELCHP was eventually established as a Limited Company in 1991, with the original shareholders being the London boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham (Southwark did not invest), AHS Emstar (now Veolia), Martin Engineering Systems, John Laing, London Electricity and Mainmet. SELCHP Limited's first Chairman was Professor Gerald Atkins and its first Managing Director was Robert Wheatley. The two main shareholders (Martin Engineering Systems Limited and AHS Emstar) went on to obtain funding of £95 million and underwrote the construction of this first environmentally compliant (with EU regulations) Energy from Waste facility in Britain. Planning Permission for the development was obtained after a long public consultation phase which has been labeled a model of local public involvement. The SELCHP Facility was opened in November 1994 by the Prince of Wales. Originally, the Plant extracted energy from all of the post-recycling waste of Lewisham and Greenwich, and it now processes waste from several other London Boroughs as well. In 2024, more than 50 of these plants now operate in the British Isles. In 2002 SELCHP was subject to

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

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UK. They were concerned about the potential negative health effects of the dioxins produced during the incineration of waste at the site. The plant was shut down for three and a half days when protesters entered the main tipping hall and climbed the chimney. The standoff was resolved when bailiffs entered the building and removed the protestors. As a result of the action both Liberal Democrats on

Lewisham Council Lewisham London Borough Council, also known as Lewisham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour major ...

and the Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth pledged their support to the campaign. Records of emissions are publicly available, as is the case with all similar Energy from Waste Plants. SELCHP is currently operated by Veolia Environmental Services.

References

External links

SELCHPInformation PageSELCHP location
{{Incineration in the United Kingdom Energy infrastructure completed in 1994 Waste power stations in England Power stations in London Waste management in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lewisham Cogeneration power stations in England

History

See also

References

External links