North London Waste Authority has built thousands of solar panels on the roof of its new recycling facilities

Solar panels on the roof of new recycling facilities in Edmonton (credit NLWA)

An array of solar panels on the roof of a new recycling centre in Edmonton is said to now be the largest of its kind in North London.

North London Waste Authority (NLWA) confirmed that the 2,235 solar panels at Edmonton Eco Park are due to be switched on this summer and will provide electricity equivalent to powering 300 homes yearly.

The solar array and recycling facilities are part of the North London Heat and Power Project, which also includes the controversial scheme to build a bigger waste incinerator. Construction began on the incinerator last year, after years of protests, but work on the recycling facilities began earlier and is now almost complete. It includes a recycling processing plant, public recycling centre, plus a visitor and education centre dubbed ‘Eco Park House’.

The position of the recycling facility and the ‘sawtooth’ roof, by architects Grimshaw and engineers WSP, has been optimised to incorporate the solar panels so that the facility gains maximum energy from the sun. The solar array covers the size of a football field and will generate 918,488 kilowatt hours of renewable energy each year to power the new Edmonton Eco Park facilities being built.

The new recycling processing plant will have capacity to manage 135,000 tonnes of recyclable material every year, while the public reuse and recycling centre will enable North London residents and businesses to bring their recycling direct to Edmonton Eco Park for the first time. Eco Park House will be a facility for the local community to be able to learn more about waste management and recycling, and how to reduce the carbon impact of their waste.

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