London gets waste power plant

A new energy from waste development in Greater London has been given the go-ahead by the Government.

This decision will allow Riverside Resource Recovery to proceed with an energy from waste power station with a capacity of 72 MW, at Norman Road, Belvedere, South East London.

In a written ministerial statement, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said, "I have today granted consent to the application by Riverside Resource Recovery to build an energy from waste power station in Belvedere, South East London. This decision was taken after careful consideration of the recommendations from the Public Inquiry Inspector who oversaw two public inquiries that looked into this application in 2003 and 2005.

"Today's approval takes into account the concerns raised, and includes a number of conditions recommended by the inquiry Inspector to mitigate any impacts.

"This energy from waste station will be fuelled by waste which would otherwise have to go to landfill. London has a serious waste problem much of which it currently exports to landfill in the Home Counties. I agree with the Inspector that even if London were to meet the ambitious recycling targets envisaged by the Mayor for London there will still be ample residual waste to fuel the station. This decision will make an important contribution to tackling London's waste problem.