Sites / Digital Reef 'London Data Freeport' (East Havering)

Digital Reef 'London Data Freeport' (East Havering)

Digital Reef · proposed · London Borough of Havering

Proposed 175-hectare, about 600 MW campus of up to twelve buildings (up to about 400,000 m²) on agricultural land at Fen Lane / Dunnings Lane, North Ockendon / Upminster; marketed as the 'London Data Freeport' with reported £5.3bn cost and a £116m upgrade to Warley substation for about 445 MW of renewable capacity. Havering approved a draft Local Development Order for consultation (ran March–April 2026). Held at proposed until a lasting Havering Public Access / LDO URL is linked. Location pin is approximate.

Stated size

600 MW

biggest size stated for this site Operator

Source: Developer / trade reporting: about 600 MW across twelve buildings

The largest megawatt figure on the public record for this one site (planning docs or operator materials). It may include stages that are not built yet. Not everyday electricity use; the source sits with the number. Stated size is not electricity use.

Site area

432 acres

farmland Operator

What was here: Agricultural land at Fen Lane / Dunnings Lane, North Ockendon / Upminster

Water

Not disclosed

No annual water figure in materials reviewed

Equivalences

No operator on this map discloses expected load factor (the share of peak power used on average), so yearly electricity figures are shown as a range, not as a known total.

200,000 kettles running at once
ⓘ Arithmetic and sources

200,000 kettles running at once (at biggest size stated for this site; power size, not annual use)
- Nameplate 600 MW treated as continuous power for a power-to-power comparison only.
- One kettle = 3 kW.
Figure type: biggest size stated for this site · stated
778,667-1,362,667 homes' annual electricity
ⓘ Arithmetic and sources

778,667-1,362,667 homes' annual electricity (at 40%-70% load factor)
- Uses biggest size stated for this site = 600 MW.
- Assumed average load = nameplate × 40%-70%.
- Home use = 2700 kilowatt-hours/year.
- No operator discloses load factor; this is a bound, not a measurement.
Local geography (load-factor range): about 3.6-6.4× Barking and Dagenham's annual electricity (the lowest-consumption local authority we compare against)
ⓘ Arithmetic and sources

At 40%-70% load factor: about 3.6-6.4× Barking and Dagenham's annual electricity (the lowest-consumption local authority we compare against) (annual electricity)

2,102-3,679 gigawatt-hours per year assumed
- Uses biggest size stated for this site = 600 MW.
- Energy = MW × 8760 h × load factor / 1000 → GWh/year.
- Compared to Department for Energy Security and Net Zero local-authority total metered electricity (all sectors).
- No operator discloses load factor; this is a bound, not a measurement.
Water: Water use: not disclosed
Site area: 245.5 football pitches

Grid connection

Reporting cites a £116m upgrade to Warley substation providing about 445 MW of renewable capacity. Operator

New substation: no
Overhead line upgrades: not stated

Claims on record

None recorded yet.

Disclosure checklist

Stated size (MW): disclosed
Water: not disclosed
Power usage effectiveness (PUE): not disclosed
Energy source claim: none on record
Load factor: not disclosed

Plain checklist, no aggregate score.

Right of reply

Right of reply: open; no response received. Email marco@prismaticlabs.ai. Subject is prefilled. Or see methodology.

Timeline

2026-03: Havering Strategic Planning Committee approves draft Local Development Order for consultation

Sources

No live planning application link recorded yet. We do not upgrade a site past “proposed” without one.

Map point: longitude 0.288, latitude 51.5432. Last reviewed 2026-07-20.