London, 7 March 2024
| The Energy from Waste Conference 2024 held in London, brought together sector experts to discuss opportunities within the waste-to-energy industry, focusing on accelerating decarbonisation and promoting a circular economy. In a heat network-focused panel, we explored the role that Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities could have in decarbonising other sectors and local communities. |
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The Energy from Waste Conference 2024 brought together industry leaders, policy makers, and innovators dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions in waste-to-energy. Among the critical themes dominating discussions this year, the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to encompass EfW facilities from 2028 took centre stage. Amidst these discussions, Adriana Rodriguez, Principal at Asper Investment Management, participated in a panel discussion focusing on heat networks and the role of waste-to-energy. The panel was chaired by Nathan Bradberry (Bevan Brittan) and joined by Arran Mornin (DESNZ), Charlotte Phillips (Gren) and Ken Hunnisett (Triple Point). |
| The session kicked off with a comprehensive overview of heat networks, highlighting the UK Government’s ambition to increase heat network penetration from c.2% to 20% by 2050. In this context, heat network zoning is being introduced as a key policy to accelerate heat networks development, creating a more standardized approach to project origination, development, and operation, with EfWs recognized as crucial heat sources. |
| The discussion spotlighted three key takeaways: |
| 1) Established solutions with growing momentum. While heat networks and the integration of EfW heat may be relatively new to the UK, they have long been established solutions for decarbonization in Scandinavia and western Europe. One of the advantages of these systems is their flexibility and ability to integrate a range of technologies, like heat pumps, and various local heat sources, like EfW. Encouragingly, the sector is experiencing a surge of interest from existing and new developers and operators, backed by private and government funding, and evolving policies aimed at expediting heat network deployment. On the EfW front, the alliance Resource Recovery UK, representing the majority of the sector, recognizes EfW operators as potential contributors to decarbonizing other sectors and communities (source), with promising examples of 12 EfWs exporting heat equivalent to 1.8TWhth in 2021 (source). |
| 2) EfWs can contribute to local decarbonization. With the expansion of the UK ETS to cover EfWs, the conference explored how this move is expected to encourage energy recovery, reduce carbon emissions, and incentivize investments in decarbonization technologies like carbon capture and storage. The panel discussed the potential of recovering heat from EfWs to create a more integrated and sustainable waste system. The integration of EfW heat with heat networks can play a significant role in the decarbonisation of the waste-to-energy sector, of local communities and other industries. Moreover, it has the potential to change the community perception of EfWs and address the carbon and financial risks of the sector. |
| 3) EfW’s can provide reliable, low-carbon heat at a fair price. At the heart of heat networks is the customer. The panel stressed the importance of ensuring that low-carbon heat from heat networks is not only reliable but also competitively priced compared to alternative options. Integrating waste heat sources, like heat from EfWs, has the potential to reduce costs, providing increased flexibility and resilience to local energy systems. This is key to realise the potential and ambitious growth aspirations for the sector. |
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As the panel wrapped up, we were encouraged by the interest and engagement from the audience. The discussion highlighted the potential of integrating waste heat into district heat networks, marking a significant step towards a more sustainable and resilient future for the waste-to-energy sector. |
Asper is one of Europe’s first energy infrastructure investment managers to have invested in sustainable heat networks: we made our first heat network investments in 2014 and since then we have made significant investments in this sector every year across Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK. In 2022, Asper established the investment vehicle called “Duke” with total commitments of £220m. It was established to support investments in 1Energy, a greenfield platform focused on developing, building and operating sustainable heat networks in city centres across the UK, as well as acquiring and driving the decarbonisation of existing schemes. Given its positive contribution to decarbonisation objectives, the fund is classified as an Article 9 Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR) fund, making it a frontrunner in sustainability, like all of Asper’s funds.
Questions?
Please get in touch at info@asper-im.com
Adriana Rodriguez Cobas
Principaladriana.rodriguez@asper-im.com
Adriana joined the Asper team in February 2023 as Principal in the investment team.
She is an energy professional with 15 years of experience. Adriana joined from Vattenfall, where she was a founding member of the Heat UK business, focused on developing, constructing, and operating low-carbon heating and cooling networks. At Vattenfall she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company, as well as asset operations and customer experience. She also led the business as Interim Managing Director.
Prior to that, Adriana worked at SSE where she focused on strategy and operations of the district heating business. She started her career at Schlumberger Business Consulting, where she worked on capability development and transformation projects.
Adriana holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from ITESM Mexico and a MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures from Imperial College London.