Planning and Implementing Power Redundancy and Back-up for Music Festivals.

A large music festival taking place on a greenfield site that has no direct connection to a mains power supply will need to implement a temporary power source. Power can come from a variety of different eco-friendly solutions and with numerous event critical systems relying on continuous power organisers must carefully plan for power redundancy.

The success of any music festival relies on a continuously available trouble-free power source to ensure a smooth operation. Stage infrastructure like lighting, sound systems, instruments and mixers all require constant power to operate correctly. In addition, temporary Wi-Fi towers and computer systems running logistics, ticketing and cashless payments will be impacted by a power outage. What steps do organisers need to consider when planning and implementing their power and redundancy requirements.

Planning Power Requirements.
Festival organisers determine their anticipated power requirements early in the planning process so that the correct power generators are ordered. This entails a calculation of anticipated loads that will be required which means building a comprehensive inventory of all electrically powered equipment. This typically will include sounds systems, lighting, backline equipment, medical facilities, command centre systems, emergency lighting and power supplies for vendor and camping zones. This can be a complex process as it requires the estimated power consumption of every item usually in expressed in Watts (W) or kVA with an additional surplus buffer of about 20% to allow for inrush current spikes.

Contractor Options and Logistics.
Once estimated power requirements have been calculated organisers will need to discuss their options with designated contractors who be tasked with supplying the necessary power using generators. The traditional diesel generators are being phased out in favour of eco-friendly biofuels and in some cases being replaced entirely by hydrogen powered generators. In line with sustainability objectives organisers are opting for more hybrid solutions that involve the use of traditional generators that work in tandem with solar and wind powered generators. This allows an appropriate power source to be used depending on the expected usage, biofuel generators for stages and solar or wind generators for low level requirements like vendor and campsite lighting for example. Contractors should work to high levels of safety for installation ensuring that flammable fuels are secured away from crowds. Experienced technicians will be required on-site during live event dates to ensure the correct operation of generators to prevent outages.

Building Power Redundancy and Back-up.
Organisers should plan their power redundancy options to ensure that critical systems have a seamless backup source, sometimes referred to as an N+1 redundancy (where ‘N’ is the number of generators required to power expected load and ‘+1’ is the back-up generator). Contractors often prefer to use parallel redundancy where two generators are run at less than 50% capacity (N=2) and if one fails power is automatically transferred to the working generator. This transfer is seamless and does not impact on live performances. An alternative is to have a second generator on cold standby (N+1) should the first fail but the switch over to the back-up generator must be done manually, this will cause a temporary outage until the new generator is up and running. Fow low power usage critical systems an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is the normal route for redundancy. A UPS is ideal for Wi-Fi towers and command centres containing computer systems, network routers and communication equipment. Using a UPS battery back-up device ensures that critical systems continue to function until the main power supply is restored.

Prioritising Power Supplies.
When planning power redundancy, it is recommended that organisers prioritise redundancy so that critical systems (stages, command centres and medical facilities) continue to operate seamlessly. Secondary low priority power redundancy will usually apply to vendor and camping zones where brief power outages are less critical. The correct prioritisation of power redundancy ensures that the festival continues to operate seamlessly not impacting on the overall festival-goer experience. Minor glitches in secondary lighting or camping zones for example will not affect the enjoyment of the event.

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Alexandra_Koch via Pixabay

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