Innovative mains, generator and battery power consumption reduction solutions for Lumiere 2023
IPS are proud to have provided a range of services for the Lumiere 2023 event, which took place in November. Working for event organiser Artichoke, we supported many of the 39 different light art installations that made up the event. IPS provided Staging & Structures, Power as well as supplying sound and lighting equipment. Almost 13,000 items of equipment were dispatched from the IPS warehouse for this project. This included over 10km of power cabling, connected via more than 100 IPS mains distribution units.
Power generation, distribution and cabling was a major logistical consideration with this project, as many of the light art installations were interweaved within the historic city of Durham – not to mention the wind and wet conditions in a UK autumn/winter outdoor project! One of the requirements for the power supply was for sustainable options to be provided at every opportunity. This is an area where project manager Andy Murray excelled, using a host of different innovative solutions to replace or minimise fuel usage. This also represents the biggest number of battery powered installations on an IPS project to date. In total, over 1000 hours of generator runtime was saved compared to previous years installations.
With the goal of reducing overall power consumption as well as local exhaust emissions, existing mains supplies were sought first, and where they were not available or not suitable, they were either supplemented or replaced with other means. All generators used onsite used HVO fuel rather than diesel, and the latest low emission stage V sets were used wherever possible. Remote telemetry enables many units to be monitored remotely which gives a good picture of system performance and helps with fuel management planning.
Working closely with artists and suppliers to calculate estimated power requirements was a key part of the process – helping to match the supply and demand for electrical supply is a fundamental part of operating efficiently. One the specific requirements and site location have been identified; we can then work out the most appropriate solution. For Lumiere 2023, an array of clever solutions were deployed around the site. The different configurations included Local Mains Power Supplies, Mains supply with Battery for additional show capacity, Stand Alone Battery Power, Batteries used as UPS, Generator for Event Power with Battery for backup and mains supply for overnight, Generator for Event Power with Battery for Standby, Redundant Load Share Generators with overnight/low load battery backup and Generator only.
Overall, a lot of detailed calculations and planning, some clever load sharing and a very clever team of onsite power technicians (big shout out to Ham, Nick, Cyrus and Will for all their hard work onsite) enabled this impressive array of solutions to be delivered. If you have an event coming up, and you would like to rethink the power plans, the more detailed the load and running time information and the earlier this is integrated into the planning process, the better the outcome. IPS have an extensive range of power generation, distribution, cabling and cable management solutions- and much more besides. Lots of equipment is ready to hire now, and you can see the options on our website, or get in touch to discuss a full power solution.
What we provided for Sustainably Powered Lumiere
