Johnson puts £3m towards generating power from waste

London mayor Boris Johnson is providing £3m of funding to develop waste heat from power generation in the capital.

A dedicated unit at the London Development Agency, called the Decentralised Energy Centre of Excellence, will help boroughs identify opportunities for combined heat and power schemes, which help eradicate excess energy and reduce carbon emissions.

The LDA and the mayor have also unveiled a heat map which helps public organisations, property developers, registered social landlords and private investors identify the potential for decentralised energy opportunities in specific areas of London. London councils are contributing £210k towards the heat mapping for boroughs.

Additionally, a prospectus detailing the current state of the decentralised heat market called Powering Ahead was published.

The first boroughs to be offered expertise and support are Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Ealing, Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston, Lambeth, Redbridge, Sutton, Wandsworth, Westminster; Croydon, Haringey, Lewisham, Barking and Dagenham, Camden, Islington and Southwark.

The mayor has a target of supplying London’s heat and electricity from local sources by 2025. This would cut London's carbon emissions by 3.5 million tonnes a year.

The LDA has allocated up to £16m for decentralised energy projects over the next four years (from 2009/10) and is working on 14 projects currently across the capital.

These include projects linking up the Pimlico and Westminster heat networks, the Olympic Park scheme and the plan to connect parts of the Thames Gateway to waste heat from Barking Power Station.