The roof of South London’s Streatham Hill train depot is being covered in solar panels and will generate a surplus of electricity that can be sold to local businesses.
The trial project has seen London’s Streatham Hill depot turned into a local source of renewable energy, which if successful, could see Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) extend the energy generation initiative to additional depots across its network.
Streatham Hill depot (c) GTR
The solar panels are being installed by an investment company set up by an independent firm set up by a community group, Energy Garden. Just over 40% of the electricity will be sold to the train depot, the rest will be sold by Energy Garden to other businesses in the area looking for zero-carbon electricity.
The project will see 526 solar panels installed on the depot’s roof, and is expected to save around 44 tonnes of carbon a year, generating over 200,000 kW hours of electricity.
Over 20 years, Energy Garden expects to earn around £100,000, which it will use to provide education, youth training programmes and expand the gardens it installs along the rail network.
