2013 Energy Planning Monitoring Report

The Energy Planning Monitoring report sets out the outcomes secured in 2013 as a result of implementation of the London Plan energy policies (specifically Policy 5.2) through the planning system.

An energy assessment is required for each planning application referable to the Mayor, setting out how the London Plan energy policies will be met within the development. Specifically, applicants are required to set out how the proposals apply the following energy hierarchy:

• Be lean: use less energy
• Be clean: supply energy efficiently
• Be green: use renewable energy

The hierarchy provides the mechanism through which the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction targets in Policy 5.2 of the London Plan are achieved. It also contributes to the implementation of strategic energy policies relating to decentralised networks and ensures opportunities for building occupants to receive efficient, secure and affordable energy.

Outcomes secured in 2013 included commitments to:

• Investment in demand reduction measures to exceed the requirements of Building Regulations through energy efficiency alone and reduce residential energy bills by circa £580k per annum.
• New heat network infrastructure and associated generation equipment including:
• circa £17million of investment in combined heat and power (CHP) plant able to produce 25MW of electricity and a similar amount of heat, broadly equivalent to the amount required to supply 50,000 homes
• around £103million of investment in heat network infrastructure for circa 41,000 communally heated dwellings
• Approximately 60 permanent jobs created in operating and maintaining the heat network infrastructure and associated energy generation equipment.
• Investment in renewable energy equipment, including circa £14 million to provide approximately 71,000m2 of photovoltaic panels. This equates to approximately 7MW of new electrical capacity, equivalent to the average demand of circninga 14,000 homes.

The energy outcomes set out above will reduce fossil fuel use resulting in regulated CO2 emission reductions of 36 per cent more than required by Part L 2010 of the Building Regulations (equivalent to circa 49,474 tonnes CO2 per annum). This improvement is greater than the 25 per cent target for new developments set out in Policy 5.2 of the London Plan for the period 2010 to 2013, and represents a circa 30 per cent regulated CO2 reduction compared to the new 2013 Building Regulations.