Electric Picnic main stage to be powered by renewable energy

Michael Bolton

Music festival Electric Picnic has announced the main stage at the festival will be connected to the grid and powered by renewable energy in 2024.

This marks the first time a festival of its kind in the UK and Ireland will install mains power to reduce its carbon footprint.

The grid power will ultimately reduce carbon emissions associated with powering the main stage of the festival in 2024 and reduce the need to use temporary generators.

Festival Republic will submit a planning application for a substation and if successful, work will begin later this year on delivering grid power to the main stage which will mark the transition of the outdoor live sector to renewable power.

The goal is to inspire other festivals to assess the feasibility of connecting their event to the national grid, as this is a long-term sustainable solution to reduce carbon emissions at festivals.

Melvin Benn, Managing Director Festival Republic said: "‘The installation of our first grid connection is a key contributor to our goal of reducing carbon emissions associated with the festival by 50 per cent by 2030 in line with our Green Nation Charter.

I hope that by leading the way and sharing what we have learned, festival goers can have an amazing time at Electric Picnic safe in the knowledge that we are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on the only planet we have got.”