This weekend, tens of thousands of fans will watch artists such as Lorde, Little Simz, Tems & Goldie perform at FORWARDS on Clifton Downs, Bristol. While the ground beneath them may be dry and parched following a summer of droughts and heatwaves, the air they breathe will be significantly cleaner and climate emissions free, thanks to the West of England Clean Power Pilot.

This unprecedented initiative – part of the evolving legacy of Massive Attack’s carbon emissions world record breaking Bristol show in 2024 – unites two of the region’s most important & growing sectors – live music events & film/tv production. The world-first project is a collaborative partnership between the West of England Mayor, the UN affiliated ACT1.5 project, multiple clean power providers, Team Love (FORWARDS and Love Saves the Day) & the Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol. This progressive pilot, supported by Bristol City Council and Arts Council England, has guaranteed clean power to major festivals and productions, and aims to help provide cleaner air for those who attend, live near, work on, or perform at this season of cultural events and filming activity in Bristol and the wider region.

In recognition of this landmark climate action, artists performing on the West stage at FORWARDS will be invited to drink the emissions generated by their performance – 100% pure water – thanks to the use of Green Hydrogen provided by the winner of the King’s Award for Innovation, GeoPura.

Designed to break down barriers between sectors requiring the same technologies and expertise to play their part in the climate effort, the pilot aims to create a blueprint for commercially viable, sustainable production and events. The ambition is to scale the model in 2027, extending its benefits across multiple sectors and paving the way for adoption elsewhere in the UK and internationally.

FORWARDS festival has built a reputation over the past five years as one of the UK’s most forward-thinking festivals. Produced by Team Love, the festival kickstarted a new breed of inner-city music festivals by committing to positive change through climate & social initiatives and providing a platform for urgent discussions, side by side with an epic international music line up.

In addition to FORWARDS and other festivals such as Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Team Love’s Love Saves the Day, Bristol Harbour Festival and Severn Fest, screen productions such as “Mavis Ecclestone” (ITV), “Young Sherlock” series 2 (Prime Video) and “Can You Keep a Secret?” series 2 (BBC) have made use of bespoke renewable facilities at the Bottle Yard Studios to power their work on location, including a guaranteed fleet of batteries and a newly built dedicated renewable energy charging hub.

Both the Lorde performance on 28th August, a special one-off concert for FORWARDS Presents, and FORWARDS Festival across the bank holiday weekend 29/30th will benefit from power decarbonisation via the use of pioneering Green Hydrogen technology (GeoPura) and a fleet of scalable battery units provided by Greener Power Solutions, Zenobe and Instagrid.

Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:

“After another exceptionally hot and dry summer, everyone can see how our climate is changing.

Here in the West of England, we’ve brought together our brilliant creative industries and clean energy sectors to try to help tackle the climate crisis and clean up our air.

Our Clean Power Pilot, funded through my Green Energy Fund, has turned off diesel generators and powered up renewably fuelled batteries at live events and screen productions. As we work together with ACT 1.5 and partners across our region and beyond, and build on what we’ve learned, I hope that we can show that a greener future is not just possible but underway.”

Robert Del Naja, 3D, of Massive Attack said:

“We never intended our 2024 show to be a one off, this project was always about systemic change, so it’s gratifying to see this permanent legacy of decarbonisation for all major festivals and film/tv productions in Bristol. Looking at the bigger picture, so much time has been wasted by real bases of power – national governments, transnationals & the tactical misdirection of the corporate media – and now the world finds itself surpassing 1.5 degrees, & chronically unprepared for wildfires, drought, violent storms & food insecurity.

In this context, projects like ACT1.5 can be seen as a catalyst for all sectors & civil society more widely. We don’t have to wait for governments to rehabilitate themselves from fossil fuel cartels, or for the White House to someday relocate its mind. We have the imagination, the intelligence and the will to act now, and act with the required intent.”

Actor Sir Jonathan Pryce, starring in Mavis Ecclestone which was shot at the Bottle Yard Studios, said:

“This summer, the severe weather events long predicted by climate scientists have become a vivid reality. Drama, music and art are activities that allow us to understand difficult realities, but they also provide spaces to imagine a better future and find ideas and designs to reach it. In this context, I’m delighted to see a project like this at Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol creating clean, sustainable models of production, and I support the expansion of this important work.” 

Camilla Carson, Chief Commercial Officer at GeoPura, said:

“Major events need significant amounts of reliable power, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of the environment, or the air people breathe. The West of England Clean Power Pilot is showing what can be achieved when industry comes together to move away from fossil fuel generation. We’re excited to support Lorde and FORWARDS with clean power generation using our Hydrogen Power Units and green hydrogen, delivering the critical power needed for the main stage with no CO₂, NOx or particulate emissions. It means cleaner air for artists, crews and audiences, with water as the only by-product of generating power. This is proven technology delivering at scale today, ready to support live events, film and TV and many other sectors.”

Ben Price, Head of Partnerships at Team Love Productions, said:

“This summer’s record-breaking heatwaves have made one thing clear: climate change is happening now, and at an accelerating pace. Team Love as an organisation is actively committed to reducing carbon across all our events and believes in using our festivals as test beds for pilots and innovations that can have a wider impact. This clean power pilot is the start of a new era of how we power live events in the region and we are privileged to be part of this project in year 1.”

Aileen Flanagan from Big Talk Studios Production, said:

“We’re delighted to be a part of WECA’s Clean Power Pilot Scheme here in the South-West with our battery-generator set up and solar panels and showcase sustainable production practices. It works for three main reasons, 1. We don’t move – we have centred our unit base around many of our locations. 2. Monitoring – we can gather data and monitor in real time & see what is spiking our usage. You could even identify the blip on the solar panels when there was the solar eclipse. And finally, 3. Buy-In- from everyone. We’ve been supported by our commissioners at the BBC and CBS Studios. Our Execs and Producer are behind it with the incredible production and locations teams championed by our Line Producer, Sara Huxley. Our suppliers are onboard from facilities, unit drivers. It’s that support from the top down that has really set the tone and set it up for success.”

The second series of “Can You Keep A Secret” is filming at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location. The unit base is powered by a 318kVA / 336kWh battery supplied through Power Logistics and topped up by 80 solar panels. The site also has a solar powered honey wagon, EV charging for our electric and hybrid unit fleet and an additional hybrid generator for location power.

Mark Donne, Lead Producer at ACT1.5, said:

“The vision & drive of UK artists, studios and clean technology companies can only get us so far; to unlock climate progress at scale requires political leadership, precisely what we found in the Mayor of the West of England. The domestic & global political complexion may have changed, but scientific reality has not. We have the ideas, the technologies & the overwhelming support of the public – all projects like this need are political leaders who act with courage.”

Katherine Nash, Head of Studios at the Bottle Yard, said:

“We are delighted to have the Battery Hub for the West of England Clean Power Pilot based at the studio. This innovative project has brought together multiple progressive partners to put clean temporary power within realistic, achievable reach of all filming teams and live event producers across our entire region and it has enabled us to significantly advance our sustainability ambitions. The pilot is a game changer for sustainable production on location, and as its charging facilities are also now directly available to all film/TV production teams working on site at The Bottle Yard, it enables us as a film studio to offer an entirely generator-free experience to film/TV production clients who are serious about pushing the boundaries of what’s truly achievable in terms of sustainable production.”

Dr Rosamund Adoo-Kiss-Debrah CBE, from the Ella Roberta Foundation, said:

“We need faster transitions to clean power sources to have any hope of cleaning up the air we breathe. Act 1.5 and their work to transition the live music scene to renewables is a great example of what can be done. The power of the creative sectors to engage with their audiences is formidable, and I am so delighted these artists and creatives have chosen to use their platforms to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution and to promote clean air for all of us. This is a great project, congratulations to all involved and I hope it will inspire others to do similar to help us tackle the biggest environmental threat to our health: air pollution. It is too late for my daughter Ella, but we can all contribute to raising awareness and hopefully protect the health of our loved ones in the future.”

Ben Hardy, Executive Director of Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, said:

“The project gave us the opportunity to trial technology that would not normally be available to us and demonstrated clear benefits from both an operational and environmental perspective.

“We are proud to have been part of this pilot and excited by its potential. Initiatives like this can play an important role in helping large-scale events reduce their environmental impact, and it has certainly made us reconsider our approach for future Fiestas.”

Dan Pratt, Director of Greener Power Solutions UK, said:

“Live events have always been a space where new ideas get tested at scale. That’s where the idea for Greener was born. Forwards Festival proves the concept: large events can be powered sustainably. That’s exactly what Greener is here to deliver. Smart mobile batteries that deliver clean power when and where you need it.”

Grassroot Communities said:

“The Bristol Birdman is the largest youth and community fundraising and advocacy event in the UK and we were delighted to be able to benefit from the energy pilot project. Grassroot Communities are dedicated to sustainability, and we are proud to show our young people, and wider community, what that looks like when it comes to delivering this large event at the iconic Bristol Harbour. We were provided with battery packs at relatively short notice and the whole process was easy and cheap, all our event’s profits go straight back into delivering youth and community work, so the support was hugely appreciated!”