Articles
An upmarket hotel and private club owned by Shell has become embroiled in a legal battle to block the development of a hydropower plant on the River Thames.
The Lensbury Club in Teddington has already unsuccessfully brought a judicial review against planning consent for the Ham Hydro scheme on noise and environmental grounds, but is now seeking to appeal against that decision.
Supporters of the hydropower scheme say the legal move could delay the project so that it becomes uneconomic to build.
The move is in stark contrast to Shell’s corporate policy. The company recently set up a division to invest in renewables.
The Lensbury was founded in 1920 as a club for Shell employees and is now a subsidiary of the oil company. Shell said: “Lensbury is a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum, but its directors carry out their duties independently from Shell and act only in the interests of Lensbury Ltd.”
The planned hydropower development by community group Teddington and Ham Hydro will install three Archimedes screws at a weir to generate an annual average output of 1.6GWh of electricity. Construction is planned to begin this summer, with commissioning due for 2018.
David DeChambeau, director of Southeast Power Engineering, was brought onto the project as a consultant in 2015, and told PE he fears an appeal to the judicial review by the Lensbury Club could be purposely dragged out. This could mean the project misses its build deadline of March 2018 and the chance to apply for the feed-in tariff. Alterations made to the system in 2015 were aimed at ensuring quiet operation. “There is no chance in hell it will it be heard by anyone at the Lensbury Club,” said DeChambeau.
Lacy Curtis-Ward, chief executive of the Lensbury, said the company had to consider its concerns as a business and employer of 300 staff.
“Our neighbours also participated in the judicial review focusing on noise issues and the lack of an environmental impact assessment,” she said.