The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is inviting members of the public to attend public exhibitions about the new Edmonton EcoPark in Enfield, which will burn up to 700,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The combined heat and power (CHP) facility is expected to come online in 2025, when the existing power plant reaches the end of its 54-year life.

According to developers, the plant will annually incinerate 700,000 tonnes of residual waste – collected by the seven London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest –to produce 50 megawatts of electricity, enough to power around 127,000 homes. It will also have the potential to heat local homes and businesses, by distributing heat produced through schemes like Enfield Council’s planned Lee Valley Heat Network.

Exhibition details

A public consultation on the project launched last month, and a series of public exhibitions will begin tomorrow (3 June) to allow the public to find out about what the project could look like, why the council and developers claim it is needed, and how it will work. The exhibitions will also allow the public to ask the project developers questions, and ‘get involved and help shape the plans’.

The exhibitions will take place at:

• Lee Valley Athletics Centre, N9 0AR

3 June 2015, 12:00 – 18:0012 June 2015, 17:00 – 21:00

• Oasis Academy Hadley, EN3 4PX

5 June, 17:00 – 21:0013 June, 10:00 – 16:00

• The Artzone, Edmonton Green Shopping Centre, N9 0TZ

6 June 2015, 12:00 – 18:009 June 2015, 16:00 – 21:00

• Parkside Primary School, E4 6XQ

10 June 2015, 16:00 – 20:00

• Neighbourhood Resource Centre, N17 0HJ

11 June 2015, 16:00 – 20:00

Councillor Clyde Loakes, Chair of NLWA, said: “We want to prevent waste, we want you to recycle it and anything you can’t, we’re going to turn into fuel and use it to heat and power homes.

“We’ve provided lots of information on our website www.northlondonheatandpower.london but you may have a question or maybe a concern and just want to ask it face to face. These exhibitions give local people in particular a chance to do just that and I hope they come along.”

EcoPark details

As well as the incineration facility, the Edmonton EcoPark will host:

• a new materials recovery facility (MRF), with the intention of separating out recyclable materials from the incoming waste for onward processing;
• a new reuse and recycling centre, where the public and businesses can bring their recycling and bulky items for disposal from 2021 onwards; and
• a three-storey visitors’ centre (pictured, right), where people can find out more about recycling, waste, heat and power.

Composting activities, which currently take place onsite, will be moved offsite.

Due to the size of the facility, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change will rule on the planning application rather than Enfield Council, as it is classed as a ‘nationally significant infrastructure project’. This will be done via a development consent order, which can take up to two years to process.

It is estimated that the Edmonton EcoPark will cost between £450-£500 million. However, the details of the final cost will determined after the consultation has finished and the final designs are agreed on, around 2017-2020.

The NLWA has said that there will be ‘many’ jobs created through the construction process and management of the park, with several more arising from the demolition of the existing incinerator, scheduled for 2026/27.

Find out more about the Edmonton EcoPark proposals.