Aggreko powers,
Glastonbury rocks
Aggreko, the world leader in the provision of
temporary power and temperature control solutions provided over 35
Mega Watts of power at this years Glastonbury festival which is the
equivalent to that required to power the local city of Bath.
The internationally renowned festival, which
has now been taking place for over 30 years, commands a small army
of extraordinary people involved at every level of
organisation. Aggreko brought together four of its project
managers with global experience in event management, all of whom
have provided temporary power solutions to the largest and most
prestigious events around the world including the British Open Golf
Tournament, the Ryder Cup, the Rugby World Cup, the Winter Olympic
Games, FIFA Football World Cup and the European Football
Championships to name only a few.
The vibrant temporary town of Glastonbury
festival, which when open has a population of around 177,000, calls
for large scale temporary power support. This year that
equated to over 212 generators supplying around 750 customers
on-site throughout the duration of the event. Provision on
this scale required the team to be highly organised and they began
setting up the power supply infrastructure one month before the
actual event took place. In total, up to 40 Aggreko
technicians were involved on-site resulting in a secure temporary
community, in its own right, being created on the run up to the
event and for over 300 workers at the height of the
organisation.
The on-site power rental was managed via an
extensive office complex within the festival which acted as an
extension to Aggreko’s UK National Rental Centre. This ensured that
the remainder of Aggreko’s substantial fleet – that was not
ring-fenced for the festival - was available to other customers who
were not participating in the festival.
This year, with the creation of a new ‘Green
Area’ on site, Aggreko met the demand for renewable energy by the
organisers. Within this area B100 Bio-fuel, sourced from recycled
cooking oil, was used in 12 dedicated Bio-diesel generators. The
remaining 200 generators on-site required over 295,000 litres of
fuel and used around 100km of electrical distribution cabling. This
year the Event Services team also laid 72km of festoon lighting
with time clocks to reduce power requirement during the day. Areas
powered by Aggreko included the broadcast compound for the BBC and
other TV networks, the market areas, the medical centre, the police
compound, the security compound and the corporate hospitality
centres.
Following on from previous years experiences,
the Aggreko team was well aware that the weather conditions could
provide significant challenges. 2007 was no exception to
this, with heavy rain and flooding experienced on-site just prior
to and during the event. Due to the investment in 4 x 4 fuel
tankers the Event team were able to ensure that that fuel logistics
were never compromised across the festival site. The weather
conditions also meant that the power supply had to be continued for
an additional 24 hours for around 30% of Aggreko’s festival
customers who were stuck in mud and unable to leave the site.
“The pressure for 100 per cent performance at
an event such as Glastonbury, with the eyes of the world watching,
is immense. The weather problems put even more pressure on
us,” said Andy Boyd, Aggreko’s Area General Manager for Event
Services. “The planning and infrastructure we built in the month
prior to the event was crucial. Glastonbury is a complex project
and the requirements of our hundreds of customers vary widely
from small traders selling food to the large broadcast providers.
The festival just gets bigger and better every year and the Aggreko
team is proud to be a part of its success.”