Sustainability Column - Powering events with Power Electrics
- 17th Dec 2024
By Rob Mason, Project and Solution Manager at Power Electrics, temporary power provider for the Royal International Air Tattoo.
For over six decades, Power Electrics have been trusted to provide temporary power solutions in a number of sectors ranging from construction to events, including the last 16 years where we have worked with the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT).
Since starting work on sustainability in 2017 with biofuels, my team and I have observed a significant shift within the temporary power industry as businesses place greater emphasis on reducing emissions and meeting environmental targets. This is an industry wide challenge, but one that we fully embrace.
Events like RIAT are devoted to reducing their environmental impact and adopting new technologies and solutions to achieve it. This is where we come in, we work with the RAFCTE Ground Operations team all year round to see how we can further reduce the show’s impact, whilst still maintaining a quality service.
In a short time, we have seen the event transition to HVO fuel as a cleaner alternative to diesel, to integrating hybrid power solutions that combine battery storage with traditional generators - the industry is evolving rapidly to implement greener practices.
Recently we have had some great wins with RIAT. By using Battery Energy Storage (BES) during the day, a smaller generator can be chosen with the BES unit contributing power for peaks of high demand. At night when the event is closed and the power requirement is far lower, the BES unit can cover the load silently and with no emissions. At RIAT24, this reduced fuel usage to around 36,000 litres, a 16% reduction compared with the show in 2023 and a 36% reduction from 2022.
We anticipate this trend of growing demand for sustainable temporary power to continue in the future, so we’re constantly applying fresh approaches and investing in new technologies that will next revolutionise our industry. As a team, we enjoy the challenge to keep up with and lead our industry when it comes to creating solutions. There’s no guarantee when we try a fresh approach it will perform well, but when an innovative power solution pays off it’s incredibly rewarding.
Power plays a fundamental part when it comes to reducing the impact of an event, yet it is crucial to maintain its reliability. If the power drops, the event fails, so reliability is incredibly important. As sustainability increasingly becomes a key factor for customers, we ensure one factor isn’t achieved at the detriment of the other – the two must go hand in hand.
As well as our clients, we are on our own sustainability journey which dates back to 2022 when we launched our Journey to Green initiative which saw us invest £13m in green technology. So far, the results have been positive with a reduction of 27,000 tonnes of C02, which is the equivalent to taking 5,800 cars off the road for a year.
Like aviation, our industry is changing fast as we search for more sustainable power source whether it’s renewables, batteries or hydrogen. We look forward to what the future holds and bringing that to RAF Fairford.
To learn more about Power Electrics, visit powerelectrics.com.
