Parcel delivery firm DPD has officially opened a brand new £40 million centre that will enable it to roll out up to 80,000 green parcel deliveries into London each day.
The centre, which is located in Bromley-By-Bow and the size of 8.5 football pitches, is entirely diesel free with 500 EVs and all of its HVGs powered by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel.
In order to power the diesel free vehicles the site also has solar panels on the parking canopy in order to help charge the 500 EV vans, plus a 40,000 HVO tank for the fleet of LGVs and large 7.5T trucks to be filled with the biofuel.
The opening ceremony was attended by transport secretary Mark Harper who praised the site which he said he was “delighted to attend” and said it would “create new jobs and support an important industry that contributes billions to our economy.”
The move follows the news that the Royal Mail will soon be sending parcels via services like DPD and Evri, and comes amid a wider EV boom across supply chains and delivery services.
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DPD UK CEO Elaine Kerr said:“I am absolutely delighted to welcome the Secretary of State for Transport to our brand-new Docklands site. This investment represents another huge step towards our net zero goals and, I believe, demonstrates the new gold standard for a green parcel delivery operation in London, or any city”.
She added that it represents a “major milestone” in the brand’s green journey and highlighted that the business opened the UK’s first all electric parcel delivery in Westminster “almost exactly five years ago”.
She continued: “We are constantly looking for new and smarter solutions, as we demonstrated earlier this year with the roll-out of autonomous robot deliveries, and we will continue investing in green innovation to accelerate our decarbonisation pathway.”
