The local council has approved a planning permission for a new 60MW low-carbon energy centre and district heating network which will be built by Vital Energi.

Enfield council owned Energetik employed Vital Energi to submit the planning permission for the Energy Centre.

Vital Energi will build the energy centre and heat network and then provide operation and maintenance services for a 10-year period.

Construction is due to start in January.

Customers of the new very low carbon energy scheme will include the 82-hectare Meridian Water development which will include 10,000 homes, a new train station, workplaces and open spaces.

The energy centre will connect to the NLWA Energy Recovery Facility once complete in 2026, taking waste heat and distributing it to customers through a highly insulated network of underground district heating pipes.

Rob Callaghan, Regional Director for Vital Energi said: “The scale of this project makes it a hugely important opportunity for Enfield to lower their CO2 emissions.

“By harnessing waste heat from the nearby waste to energy plant, thousands of homes and businesses will be heated in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

In addition to the heat taken from the NLWA, the energy centre will include two 25m high thermal stores, each holding 1,693,000 litres of hot water, plus for resilience and back up, six 10MW boilers installed across three phases.

Vital Energi submitted the planning application on behalf of Energetik and employed Stewart Stephenson Architects and structural engineers Buro Happold as part of the professional team.