Thursday, 9th April, 2020
Government grants planning permission for Cory Energy’s Riverside Energy Park development
Cory granted planning permission for Riverside Energy Park development
The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has today granted permission for our Riverside Energy Park development to go ahead.
The Energy Park will be situated next to our existing energy recovery facility in Belvedere, on the banks of the Thames. It will feature an additional energy recovery facility as well as an anaerobic digestion facility for food and green waste, solar power and battery storage.
Once built, the new facility will divert up to 805,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from landfill and produce up to 96MW of low carbon renewable electricity, the equivalent of powering around 140,000 homes. As with our current facility, the majority of the waste will be transported via barges on the River Thames, making London’s roads cleaner and safer.
The Riverside Energy Park will also have the capacity to be connected to a district heating network, making it capable of providing heat for around 10,500 local homes. We’re currently in discussions with potential partners for this scheme.
We will create at least 75 new jobs with apprenticeship opportunities in engineering, river logistics and business management through the development. On top of this, the Energy Park will require a workforce in excess of 6,000 people over the lifetime of the construction period.
Commenting on the decision, Group CEO of Cory Riverside Energy, Dougie Sutherland, said:
We are pleased that the Secretary of State has recognised the need for more residual waste processing capacity, and has granted us permission to begin development of the Riverside Energy Park.
Currently, over two million tonnes of London’s non-recyclable waste is sent to landfill or shipped overseas, and so more domestic capacity is needed urgently. We are proud to be playing our part through the construction of this new facility.
This represents an investment of around half a billion pounds into the UK’s infrastructure, which will be vital for rebuilding the economy after the coronavirus pandemic has eased. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on the health and safety of our staff whilst delivering the essential waste management service that the country needs during this period of uncertainty. We will support the national response to coronavirus in whatever way we can.
Currently, over two million tonnes of London’s non-recyclable waste is sent to landfill or shipped overseas, and so more domestic capacity is needed urgently. We are proud to be playing our part through the construction of this new facility