POWER NEED

In a few short years, the Sommerbris (Summerbreeze) music festival has quickly grown into one of Scandinavia’s premier multi-day concert events, attracting more than 26,000 attendees over two days. The outdoor amphitheater on the tiny island of Odderøya is in a recreation area lacking the power needed for music gear, speakers and amps, stage lighting, pyrotechnics, video displays, control boards, and other production equipment. Festival organizers required a temporary solution that delivered the energy needed in an environmentally friendly way and didn’t overshadow the performances.

SOLUTION

Pon Energy Rental, the local Cat® dealer, designed and delivered a mobile hybrid power solution that supplied up to 1320 kVA of power for Sommerbris. It included two lithium-ion battery packs, each supplying up to 350 kWh of energy, as well as two Cat XQP310 mobile diesel generator sets. Both products are EU Stage V compliant, which is one of the world’s toughest emission standards for non-road mobile machinery, by reducing particulate and NOx emitted by engines.

Long before the artists arrive at the stage, the generator sets operate for about an hour and a half to fully charge the battery packs, which then supply power at 60-85 decibels—about the noise level of a household vacuum cleaner—for more than eight hours of performances each day. If the power requirement exceeds the capabilities of the batteries at any point, the generator sets are configured to start automatically and take over the load for as long as needed.

“This battery pack is very popular with festivals and other events that use a stage,” said Olav Austad, sales engineer for Pon Energy Rental. “We use power lock connectors both in and out of the battery pack to accommodate most stage setups and allow us to deliver the right connection from the battery.”

RESULTS 

The power system has performed flawlessly at every Sommerbris festival, and organizers have once again chosen Pon Energy Rental to support the latest edition of the event this June.

“We used Pon Energy Rental precisely because this is what they do, and they’re good at it,” said Heine Strømme. “Why choose someone new when we can choose a supplier that we know works and delivers good solutions every time?”

For more information on Cat Electric Power rental solutions, visit cat.com/rentalpower.

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