Concept

South-East London Combined Heat and Power Limited (SELCHP) is a waste-to- energy plant in the London Borough of Lewisham. The plant is fired by municipal solid waste (MSW) collected by the boroughs of Lewisham and Greenwich, as well as waste from other sources. Being only six miles from Hyde Park Corner, it is an accessible disposal point for waste generated throughout Central London. Now commissioned and in full operation, the plant generates about 30MW of electricity, enough to power about 50,000 homes.

The project started in 1986, as an initiative by the three boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, and Southwark. The boroughs were seeking an alternative means of disposal for their domestic and commercial waste, as the landfill sites they were using were reaching capacity and costs were expected to rise. In 1988, they formed a consortium to promote their ideas and bring together both public and private interests. The consortium members included the three boroughs, the Regional Electricity Company, and waste-to- energy design, construction and operation companies. Construction of the facility commenced in mid-1991 and was completed in early 1994.