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.”