One of the UK’s biggest wholesale fruit, flower and vegetable markets – New Spitalfields in Leyton, east London – has been fitted out with London’s biggest rooftop solar installation.
Working for owner, the City of London Corporation, energy services firm Vital Energi installed 2,730 solar panels to make a 1.4 megawatt-peak (MWp) array that can generate around 1.27GWh of electricity a year, enough to power some 470 homes.
The circa £1m investment, part of the Corporation’s climate action strategy, will cut the market’s carbon emissions by around 225 tonnes each year, equivalent to the electricity used by 50 homes a year. The strategy commits the Corporation to achieving net zero across its operations by 2027.
“Projects like this show how practical climate action can deliver benefits far beyond carbon reduction,” said the Corporation’s policy chairman Chris Hayward.
“As the UK experiences periods of extreme heat and rising electricity demand for cooling, this project demonstrates the value of investing in local renewable energy generation.”
Chairman of the Corporation’s Markets Board, Mark Wheatley, said: “This investment helps ensure the market remains a modern, efficient and well-equipped facility, supporting traders and customers while strengthening its long-term future.”
