INTERVIEW
Designing the future of live events As the Middle East’s live events market continues to grow in scale and ambition, Aggreko is investing in specialist expertise, smarter energy systems and data-led design to deliver more efficient and sustainable temporary power solutions for the region’s biggest productions.
In the Middle East’s rapidly expanding live events sector, expectations around power infrastructure are changing fast. From international sporting tournaments and music festivals to large-scale cultural celebrations and immersive entertainment experiences, organisers are finding themselves under increasing pressure to deliver not only flawless production values, but also measurable sustainability outcomes. For Aggreko, that shift has prompted a renewed focus on intelligent event design. The company has recently strengthened its regional Events Design capabilities with the appointment of three highly experienced specialists: JP Botha as Renewable Energy Engineer, Neil Williams as Events Design Lead, Middle East, and Mark Diamond as Events Design Engineer for Saudi Arabia. Together, they bring decades of experience supporting major global sporting events, Olympic venues and landmark productions, reinforcing Aggreko’s strategy to evolve beyond the traditional role of temporary generator supplier into a fully-fledged energy solutions partner. “At Aggreko, exceptional events start with intelligent design,” explained the company’s Event Sector Leader, Middle East
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Adam Rhodes. That philosophy is becoming increasingly important as clients place greater scrutiny on the environmental impact of their events. According to Rhodes, sustainability conversations in the region have matured significantly over the past few years. “Many of the international and annual event projects have now set their own environmental, social and governance goals, often with credible targets for year-on-year reduction of their event-related carbon emissions,” he commented. “It could be argued that on occasions in recent years sustainability has been considered a tick-box or buzzword, and by implementing a visible battery, solar array or hydrogen generator, the event is showing efforts to be ‘sustainable’,” he added. “We are out of that phase now and stakeholders are holding themselves and their suppliers accountable to provide actual data and new initiatives to prove that the event is reducing its CO2 footprint compared to the previous edition.” As a result, event power providers are now expected to deliver far more than temporary infrastructure. Clients increasingly want evidence-based strategies that reduce emissions without compromising reliability – a balance