The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has made the Cory Decarbonisation Project Order 2025, granting development consent under the Planning Act 2008. Signed on 5 November 2025 by Vicky Dawe, Director of Energy Development, the Order comes into force on 27 November 2025 and designates the scheme a project of national significance by direction under sections 35 and 35ZA. It authorises Cory Environmental Holdings Limited to construct, operate and decommission a carbon capture facility at Belvedere in the London Borough of Bexley, alongside extensive river works on the Thames.
The authorised development couples post‑combustion carbon capture with the existing Riverside energy‑from‑waste stations. It provides for absorber columns and stacks, carbon dioxide compression, dehydration and liquefaction, a liquid CO₂ buffer storage area, and supporting utilities, control and welfare buildings. Interconnection works allow flue gas supply, steam and heat offtake from Riverside 1 and Riverside 2, with new above‑ground LCO₂ pipework linking the capture plant to a new jetty. Maritime works include modifying or removing the Belvedere Power Station jetty, building a new berth with dolphins, fenders and access structures, and undertaking related dredging to a design depth within defined co‑ordinates.
Planning governance is tightly specified. Main elements must secure detailed approval from the London Borough of Bexley for layout, scale and appearance, in line with certified design principles and a design code, and taking advice from an independent design review. The Order fixes design parameters and requires notice of final commissioning. Development must begin within seven years of commencement of the Order and be built in accordance with the certified environmental statement and mitigation schedule.
The Order confers compulsory acquisition powers for land, rights and restrictive covenants needed for the project, including the ability to acquire subsoil or airspace without taking the whole plot. Private rights may be suspended or extinguished where inconsistent with the authorised works, with compensation determined under the Land Compensation Act regime as modified by the Order. Temporary possession powers apply for construction and for a five‑year maintenance period after final commissioning. Before exercising acquisition or temporary powers, Cory must have an approved guarantee or other security in place to meet compensation liabilities.
Street and traffic powers enable utility diversions, temporary and permanent alterations to street layouts, and stoppings‑up with substitute provision. The undertaker may, with consents and notice, impose temporary 10mph limits and closures on Norman Road and the A2016 Picardy Manorway, install temporary crossings and place traffic signs. A construction traffic management plan and worker travel plan must be agreed, and Bexley’s permit scheme applies, with safeguards that permits cannot frustrate powers granted by the Order.
Public access is re‑planned around the works. Public Footpath 2 between points L and H may be stopped up only once a substitute route is agreed, with additional new paths provided. The Order allows, where expressly authorised, temporary use of motor vehicles on specified paths to facilitate construction and operation. On opening, the new network must be reflected on the definitive map and statement.
Extensive protective provisions govern activities on the Thames. The Port of London Authority (PLA) must approve specified river works and certain functions, with time‑limited decision periods and the ability to attach navigation, environmental and operational conditions. Where existing river works licences conflict with approved works, the Order sets a process for variation, extinguishment and re‑licensing, with cost recovery and limited appeal rights. Temporary suspension of the public right of navigation is allowed only with PLA approval and notices to mariners, and exclusion zones created by PLA General Directions are expressly managed to maintain safe access to Middleton Jetty and the new berth when required for operational, consented work or safety reasons.
A deemed marine licence under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 covers Work No. 4 and associated dredging and maintenance activities. It requires method statements, consultation records and, where relevant, sediment sampling, with MMO approval prior to works. Impact piling must use soft‑start procedures and be logged with the Marine Noise Registry, and water injection dredging is prohibited from 1 June to 30 August. Dredged material disposal is restricted to designated sites, and all notifications, vessel details and post‑activity reports are mandated. MMO determinations on specified conditions are appealable under the 2011 regulations.
Environment Agency controls apply to works near defences and main rivers, including approval of specified works, protective measures and emergency protocols. A river wall condition survey is required before jetty works proceed, with any remedial works completed to a 100‑year standard within agreed timescales. The project must be built and operated in accordance with the certified flood risk assessment. If operation is expected to continue beyond the 50th anniversary of final commissioning, Cory must submit an updated assessment and implement any further mitigation before year 50, or cease operating absent agreement.
Biodiversity and access obligations are detailed. A Landscape, Biodiversity, Access and Recreation Delivery Strategy must be approved and implemented, demonstrating at least 10% biodiversity net gain in area habitat units and 10% in watercourse units across 30 years, with off‑site delivery or credits where necessary. The project delivers habitat creation, watercourse enhancements, raised walkways and visitor facilities. On completion of the mitigation works, the Crossness Local Nature Reserve is extended and redesignated, enabling Bexley to make byelaws regulating conduct and maintenance without hindering authorised development; fixed penalty arrangements for breaches are specified.
Construction and operation are controlled through a suite of plans. A code of construction practice is required for each phase and must cover lighting, dust, materials handling, pollution prevention, biosecurity, surface water and community engagement. Standard working hours are 07:00–19:00 Monday to Friday and 07:00–13:00 on Saturdays, with exceptions for emergencies and defined techniques. Before commissioning, an emergency preparedness and response plan and an operational environmental management plan must be agreed, alongside a site‑specific noise mitigation plan that sets operational limits at defined receptors.
Energy integration is mandated through a heat strategy, setting out how heat from the new carbon capture facility and both Riverside plants could be captured and exported, where connections might be made, and what enabling infrastructure would sit within the Order limits. The Order also enables relevant heat network operators to benefit from certain works where they interface with the scheme, ensuring future connection potential is preserved.
Utility and undertaker protections are comprehensive. Thames Water, electricity undertakers, electronic communications providers and Southern Gas Networks retain rights to apparatus, with clear procedures for alternative apparatus, access, cost recovery and supervision. Separate protections apply for the Port of London Authority, the Marine Management Organisation and the Environment Agency, each with defined approval gateways, cost indemnities and dispute routes. The Order also protects the operators of Riverside 1 (RRRL) and Riverside 2 (REPL), preserving operational access and apparatus and governing any required reconfiguration.
Transfer provisions allow the benefit of the Order to be assigned with the Secretary of State’s consent, with streamlined notification‑only routes where the transferee holds relevant licences or is a highway authority. Electronic service of notices is permitted subject to consent. Where consents required by the Order are delayed, a fast‑track appeal mechanism is available, with an appointed person empowered to decide within fixed timescales.
From 27 November 2025, Cory may commence permitted preliminary works, including surveys, laydown and early utilities, while seeking detailed approvals for main works. River users should expect notices to mariners during mobilisation, and residents will see advance engagement on traffic management and rights of way changes. Landowners within the Order limits will be approached as compulsory acquisition, temporary possession and protective works programmes are sequenced, with security for compensation established in advance.