A property company has said it has concrete plans to convert Battersea Power Station into the greenest development in Britain as part £4bn project.
The plans talk about part of the existing power station being converted into a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, generating energy from waste, biofuels and 'other renewable sources'.
Hopefully, this can then become a blueprint for other such, local, power stations, producing both heat and power from waste, ideally using waste wood. There is so much, as I mentioned before, waste wood about that it is amazing that it has taken this government – and others – so long to recognize that there is something useful that can do with this resource, other than depositing it in a landfill site.
They also include plans for a huge building which will be the 'greenest in Britain' thanks to a natural ventilation system and other sustainable features.
The claims of previous developers aiming to regenerate the landmark site have been trashed by those living near the former power station, where local belief appears to be that the figures will never stack up.
But Real Estate Opportunities, the masterminds behind this latest plan, insists it will make good on its promises.
Rob Tincknell, managing director of REO's development manager, Treasury Holdings UK, said: "We don't embark on projects that we can't deliver. We are determined that Londoners will not be disappointed and this area will be brought back to life in the most spectacular way.
"It will be a place to live, work and play."
The developers say their aim is to create of a zero carbon environment the delivery of a sustainable mixed-use development.
REO is planning to spend £150 million on saving and repairing Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's 1930s power station, with the key historic spaces retained and open to the public. It would be developed to incorporate hotel, residential and retail accommodation.
It would be nice to see that great old power station in use again for something decent, such as a power station, even though the power station part of it will be much smaller than it used to be.
Personally, I must say that I cannot understand why that power station was ever abandoned and why it is not being taken into operation as a full power station again, as a CHP plant, crating both heat and power for the local area. With the proper political will, I am sure this can be done. But, alas, as per usual, the political will does not seem to be there, yet again.
M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
Latest plan for Battersea power station would turn it into a biofuel conversion
