First residents move into London’s low-carbon neighbourhood

• Silvertown is located across 60 acres of London’s Royal Docks
• The project is expected to create over 6,000 new jobs
• It will be run by E.ON’s ectogrid™, a low-carbon  heating and cooling network

One of the UK’s most ambitious eco-friendly regeneration projects is now home to its first 100 residents, with more set to move in this year.

The Silverton, located across 60 acres of London’s docklands, has been described as a “highly sustainable and low-carbon development”. 

The £3.5 billion project is being developed by real estate group giant Lendlease, after being derelict for 40 years and is supported by  energy supplier E.ON.

The regeneration will deliver roughly 6,500 new homes, as well as innovative workspace, leisure and communal facilities. This includes the restoration ofMillenium Mills, a 20th century flour mill.

By reusing  Millenium Mills, carbon emissions will be half what they would be in a typical new office building, at 450 kgCO2e/sqm for upfront embodied carbon  vs. 950 kgCO2e/sqm. This will help to save 16,200 tonnes of carbon, or the equivalent of taking 3,600 petrol cars off the road for a year. 

Currently in its first phase, Silvertown will first deliver 1,032 homes, with over 50% designated as affordable housing. 

As well as facilities, the project is also expected to create more than 10,000 new jobs for locals,  with significant opportunities for the surrounding community. 

Lendlease has a target of absolute zero carbon by 2040, by removing all greenhouse gas emissions from business activities without the use of carbon offset schemes.

How will Silvertown be so eco-friendly?

All heating and hot water in the Silvertown project will be powered by E.ON’s ectogrid™, a heating and cooling network system expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 75% once complete.  It will be the UK’s largest ambient heating and cooling network, helping to improve air quality and support sustainability in urban areas. 

Sustainability is the focus of Silvertown as the London Borough of Newham has an ambitious goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. The ectogrid™ only generates new energy when it has to and it reuses locally available energy as well as capturing waste industrial heat from nearby sources.

Each building in the development is connected through a low-temperature network, allowing excess heat to be shared between neighbours, minimising energy distribution loss. Additionally, solar panels will be installed on roofs to generate renewable electricity on-site.

Ectogrid™ received the COP28 Energy Transition Changemakers award for energy efficiency, and has already been put into practice in sustainable developments across Europe. Silvertown is the first of its deployment in the UK, and is now fully operational, helping to future-proof energy systems, lower carbon emissions, and follow a new standard of sustainability. 

As well as low-carbon living, Silvertown has a landscaping strategy to include native plants and green roofs to achieve a Biodiversity Net Gain. It also has a local ‘car-free’ scheme to encourage residents to walk, cycle or take public transport.

How eco-friendly is your home? If you live in a block of flats, we’d love to hear how sustainable your building is and what your landlord is doing to make it more energy efficient. Let us know by emailing us or connecting on Instagram or TikTok.

Written By

Louise Frohlich Editorial Assistant

Joining Eco Experts in April 2024 as Editorial Assistant, Louise has a keen interest in low-carbon technology and enjoys writing about anything sustainability related.

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Reviewed By

Maximilian Schwerdtfeger Content manager

Max joined The Eco Experts as content manager in February 2024 and became deputy editor in 2025. He has written about sustainability issues across numerous industries, including maritime, supply chain, finance, mining, and retail. He has also written extensively for consumer titles like City AM, The Morning Star, and The Daily Express.

In 2020, he covered in detail the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) legislation on sulphur emissions and its effects on the global container shipping market as online editor of Port Technology International.

He also explored the initiatives major container ports and terminals have launched in order to ship vital goods across the world without polluting the environment.

Since then, he has reported heavily on the impact made by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices on the supply chain of minerals, with a particular focus on rare earth mining in Africa.

As part of this, in 2022 Max visited mines and ports in Angola to hone in on the challenges being faced by one of the world’s biggest producers of rare earth minerals.

His most recent sustainability-related work came much closer to home, as he investigated the eco-challenges faced by independent retailers in the UK, specifically looking at how they can cut emissions and continue to thrive.

Max lives in South London and is an avid reader of books on modern history and ghost stories. He has also recently learned to play the game Mahjong and takes every opportunity to do so. He is also yet to find a sport he doesn’t enjoy watching.

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