Port One – A new future in sustainable commercial development

The company investing in Ipswich’s Port One Logistics Park, has pledged that the site will be the most sustainable commercial development in Great Britain as it insists on utilising its entire roofscape for solar panels to support the region’s net-zero goals.

Port One Logistics Park is a £750 million e-commerce logistics project located 20 minutes from the UK’s largest container port in Felixstowe. The site is proposed to contain 250 million cubic feet of storage space across 4.25 million square feet of floor space and will soon become a 100% sustainable venture, subject to receiving the necessary planning consents via Mid-Suffolk District Council.

36 acres of solar panels are set to be installed on warehouse rooftops and will produce 6 MW plus of energy to power all operations across the site, 365 days per year.

This will turn Port One, which is the most centrally located site in the Freeport East Zone, into one of the most sustainable commercial developments in Britain.

Additional sustainability comes from the fact that the strategic location of Port One means that lorries travelling from and to Felixstowe and Harwich will see reduced journeys of some 5 million miles every year, slashing current carbon emissions levels in East Anglia and beyond. This reduced mileage is calculated by the e-commerce warehouse location being near the Port of Felixstowe as the vast majority of goods presently travel back down the country to London and the South. The new infrastructure of 3PL carriers is the most sophisticated in the world and they do not need to base connections from the Midlands anymore.

Port One’s team is working to further improve the sustainability of Ipswich and Great Blakenham by planting 30,000 local trees as well as undertaking the regeneration and long-term management of nearby Great Blakenham Riverside Park to ensure it becomes a place where native flora and fauna can thrive for generations to come.

Ben Shove, Development Director at Port One, commented:

“Our vision for Port One has always been one of absolute sustainability and carbon neutrality. It’s good for business, good for the local community, good for Britain and, therefore, good for the world. 

We’re delighted to be leading the way on environmentally sound commercial development.

If policy and law-making goes the way it should, all of the green measures we are investing in will soon become legal requirements, so in many ways we’re simply getting ahead of the game and ensuring that Port One serves as an example of how a globally significant commercial venture can thrive while following principles of sustainability.

From clean energy to tree planting and reducing transport miles, we’re proud to be at the forefront of the vital green movement that the people of Suffolk have recently demonstrated their strong support for.”