The sun climbed over Essex that morning as if eager to reveal a secret: a former sea of trash would soon blossom into a field of light. At Ockendon, a once-quiet corner of the English countryside, a rubbish dump is quietly undergoing a transformation.
Beneath the soft hum of machinery and the quiet determination of engineers, one of the UK’s largest solar farms is rising — proof that even the most neglected places can find a new life in the fight against climate change.
From Waste To Watts: The Story Of Ockendon
Veolia, the global waste management firm, has embarked on an ambitious project: converting a closed landfill into a renewable energy powerhouse. The Ockendon site in Essex, once a repository for refuse, is being outfitted with over 100,000 solar modules across roughly 70 hectares (about 173 acres), making it the third-largest solar farm in the UK.
Its output is an estimated 59 MWp (megawatt-peak), enough to power roughly 15,000 homes. But more than just numbers, this project carries ambition: to breathe new life into a parcel of land that had few other options, and to do so while coexisting with the wildlife that has already begun to reclaim it.
Donald Macphail, Veolia’s COO for their treatment division, emphasises the careful balance: the array has minimal ground-level impact, allowing the wildlife that has repopulated the restored land to continue coexisting with the technology.
The project is part of a broader landfill restoration program launched in 2017 and is being developed in partnership with REG Power Management.
At one level, Ockendon is symbolic: a demonstration that forgotten or under-utilised land can contribute to decarbonisation. Veolia and its partners believe that many closed landfill sites across the UK (and beyond) could host similar solar projects.
Philippe Queruau, Veolia UK’s electrification services manager, has noted that this project is only the beginning. Indeed, the UK government aims to expand solar capacity from around 14 GW today to 70 GW by 2035 — a scale that would require Ockendon-sized projects to be replicated every few days.
Navigating Challenges In Grid And Scale
Ockendon’s story is not entirely without friction. One of the greatest barriers facing solar deployment in the UK is the bottleneck of grid connection approvals, which in some cases take 10 to 15 years.
Fortunately, Ockendon avoided such a delay. Some of its infrastructure is being shared with a nearby solar development, which eased the burden of new grid connection.
Nevertheless, grid capacity remains a major concern for the sector. The scale of solar deployment needed across Britain is immense, and limited grid availability continues to create constraints.
Another challenge lies in land use. Large solar farms have occasionally sparked controversy, particularly when they are proposed on farmland or in green belt areas. Ockendon sidesteps this issue by using post-industrial land, but future projects may not always be so uncontroversial. The proposed Botley West solar farm in Oxfordshire, set to become the UK’s largest, has triggered protests from local communities concerned about its scale and visual impact.
Ockendon’s location — a closed landfill with limited alternative use — gives it a significant advantage. However, replicating this success on a national scale will require creative planning and collaboration among landowners, local authorities, and conservationists.
The Heartbeat Of The Site: Real Voices, Hopeful Futures
When Veolia’s Macphail speaks of giving the land “new life,” it is not mere rhetoric. The landfill had been closed and reclaimed, but its potential use was limited.
The solar farm offers both utility and regeneration. Local ecologists have observed that the reclaimed terrain has attracted wildlife such as birds, small mammals, and insects. By designing the project to have minimal ground impact, these ecosystems are preserved rather than displaced.
Positive News captured the spirit of the development, celebrating how a former rubbish dump is now a shining example of coexistence between technology and nature. This language is not simply poetic; it reflects the ethos guiding Ockendon.
On a technical level, REG Power Management’s development director Matt Partridge has expressed excitement over the project’s significance, describing it as vital to achieving the UK’s targets for affordable, zero-emission electricity generation.
The partnership between Veolia’s waste expertise and REG’s renewable energy knowledge highlights the kind of cross-sector collaboration that will be crucial in the future.
The Wider Picture: Hope, Scale, Potential
Ockendon is just one chapter in Britain’s solar story. The Cleve Hill Solar Park in Kent, under construction on agricultural land, is expected to produce 373 MW when operational in mid-2025, making it the largest in the country. That scale dwarfs Ockendon, but it has also faced more controversy due to its location on farmland.
Ockendon’s model — reusing degraded or low-value land — may therefore become a template for other projects. Brownfield and landfill sites across the UK could hold untapped potential to generate clean energy while avoiding conflicts with agriculture. Meeting the 70 GW target by 2035 will require creative land use, streamlined grid connections, and careful consideration of environmental impact.
Reports indicate that Europe’s largest on-landfill solar farm has already caused a rise in UK clean energy hiring, suggesting that this model can support economic growth alongside decarbonisation.
In essence, Ockendon is more than just infrastructure — it is a statement of optimism. It shows that discarded spaces can be transformed into drivers of resilience, that landscapes can serve both function and beauty, and that what was once waste can become a beacon of progress.
Conclusion
The Ockendon solar farm is a reminder that Britain’s path to net zero can be paved with ingenuity and renewal. Transforming a landfill into a solar powerhouse is an act of reclamation — not just of land, but of purpose.
It stands as a model of what is possible when vision, collaboration, and respect for nature converge. If the UK is to meet its ambitious solar targets, Ockendon will be remembered not just as the third-largest solar farm, but as a symbol of hope for what is still to come.
