Christopher BarrettBristol is set to become a pioneer in the provision of renewable energy to festivals and other major public events next summer.
West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and Bristol City Council have partnered with Act 1.5, the team behind Massive Attack’s groundbreaking Clifton Downs show last year, to create a clean power ‘hub’ for its May to September 2026 programme of events.
The initiative is to be supported by Grid Faeries x Ecotricity, whose 1 MW clean energy battery has been used to power stages at festivals including LIDO, WOMAD and Glastonbury. It will also involve multiple clean power providers including hydrogen power solution specialists GeoPura and clean energy battery provider Zenobe.
Bristol Council said the collaboration would enable it to guarantee renewably powered mobile energy and charging during the summer months to a selection of outdoor events.
Mark Donne, ACT 1.5’s lead producer, said he expects the scheme to result in more than 20 major events in Bristol being decarbonised next year, with a new viable clean energy delivery model created: “This is major step of unprecedented scale, and the perfect legacy of Massive Attack’s transgression, not only for the environment but for the people who live near, work at, or go to summer festivals and events. This is a clean air strategy as well as a climate one, and another world first for Bristol.”
“This trial is a welcome approach to exploring how we can support the events sector to move away from the use of fuel driven generators, in turn improving air quality and lowering emissions,” said Bristol City Council leader Tony Dyer. “This approach sits comfortably alongside other efforts we’re undertaking to support the sector to reduce emissions in the delivery of events.”
The Council said it is investing in the provision of green mains power to the city Amphitheatre and is scoping out the potential of replicating that approach across eight further venues.