

The grease will be fed into the power station at Beckton in East London, and is set to produce 130 Gigawatt hours (GWh) a year of renewable electricity - enough to run 39,000 average-sized homes, according to Thames Water.

The water company has agreed to buy 75 GWh of this output to run Beckton sewage works, which serves 3.5 million people, and the nearby desalination plant, which is operated in times of drought or other emergencies.

The remaining power will be sold on to the national energy supply grid. The plant is developed and run by 2OC and financed by a consortium led by iCON Infrastructure.

Thames Water has also committed to provide at least half of the fuel the generator requires to run - in the form of 30 tonnes a day of fat, oil and grease - enough to fill a six metre-long shipping container - that would otherwise clog up London's sewers.

Leftover, low-grade cooking oil and food fat will be collected from food outlets and manufacturers.

Solidified grease, such as from lamb and chicken, will be harvested from 'fat traps' in restaurant kitchens and from pinch-points around the capital's sewer network.

The rest of the power plant's fuel will come from waste vegetable oils and tallow (animal fat).

Andrew Mercer, chief executive of 2OC, said: "This is good for us, the environment, Thames Water and its customers.
