FORWARDS in Bristol tests a festival almost without diesel generators: the main stage is powered by green hydrogen
Bristol's FORWARDS festival this weekend, 29 and 30 August 2026, is becoming one of the most ambitious practical tests of clean temporary energy in the European events industry. At the Clifton Downs site, the power system relies primarily on green hydrogen and large mobile battery units, with the aim of almost completely removing traditional diesel generators from the production. According to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, the project is part of the West of England Clean Power Pilot programme, a publicly supported model that connects music festivals, film and television productions with low-emission mobile energy suppliers throughout the summer. The main festival stage receives its key electrical power from GeoPura's Hydrogen Power Unit systems, while other zones rely on batteries charged with electricity from renewable sources; HVO fuel remains in use for limited backup requirements. The pilot has already been used at events and productions across Bristol, and FORWARDS is its most visible test in front of tens of thousands of visitors and under conditions in which electricity must be available without interruption.
The particular importance of this weekend stems from the scale and continuity of the load. The system has not been installed merely for a few hours of a single performance, but is integrated into a multi-day production schedule that began on 28 August with the separate FORWARDS Presents: Lorde concert and continues throughout the two-day festival. FORWARDS' official programme for Saturday includes Tems, Self Esteem, Wet Leg, Joy Crookes, Tricky, Goldie and Maribou State, while Sunday's leading names include Little Simz, Amyl and the Sniffers, Dijon, Viagra Boys, Oklou and Princess Nokia. The combination of stages, sound systems, lighting, video and other infrastructure gives the pilot a significance that laboratory testing cannot provide. If the system remains stable throughout the weekend, the organisers will obtain more concrete evidence that mobile clean energy can also be used at other major events.
How green hydrogen powers the main stage
The technological centre of the project is GeoPura's hydrogen unit. According to company information, its Hydrogen Power Unit uses fuel cells that convert hydrogen into electricity through an electrochemical reaction, without conventional combustion. At the point of use, such a system produces no carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides or exhaust particulates, while its direct by-products are water and heat. GeoPura states that its units use green hydrogen, meaning hydrogen produced using renewable electricity, and that a battery system is integrated to smooth peak loads and ensure power stability. This is particularly important for festival production because energy consumption is not constant: powerful lighting, sound and video-wall systems can create large load spikes over a short period of time.
The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority announced that GeoPura's units will provide key power for the main stage during the Lorde concert and both days of FORWARDS. The regional authority emphasises that the benefit is measured not only by reducing climate emissions associated with fuel combustion at the site, but also by air quality and noise. Diesel generators create local emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates, while fuel cells operate considerably more quietly and without such exhaust gases at the event site. The organisers have even announced a symbolic way of demonstrating the technology: performers on the West Stage will be offered purified water produced as a by-product of generating electricity from hydrogen. The gesture has a promotional dimension, but at the same time it demonstrates very directly the fundamental difference between a fuel cell and a generator that obtains energy by burning liquid fuel.
Direct emissions at the site, however, are not the same as the overall energy life cycle. The climate impact also depends on how hydrogen is produced, compressed, stored and transported, which is why it is important that Bristol is using green hydrogen produced with renewable electricity. The pilot therefore tests not only the device at the stage but also the logistics chain required to replicate such a system at other events.
Large batteries take over the rest of the festival infrastructure
The second pillar of the system consists of mobile batteries. According to the regional authority, Greener Power Solutions, Zenobē and Instagrid are participating in the pilot, together with other technical partners that have made battery units of various sizes available throughout the summer. The Bottle Yard Studios, one of the programme's key partners, announced in July that a dedicated Battery Hub with a 200 kVA connection had been established at its complex for charging and storing mobile BESS units. These batteries can then be sent to festival sites or film sets instead of each production separately arranging its own diesel generators. According to the studio's data, the pilot has used units ranging from small portable systems with a capacity of 2.1 kWh to larger batteries of 150, 360 and 422 kWh.
Such an approach changes the logistics of temporary energy. Batteries can be charged centrally, deployed according to actual demand and monitored digitally, instead of having a large generator run for hours merely to provide backup capacity. For an urban festival, quieter operation is an additional advantage, while modular units can be moved or supplemented as the load in individual zones changes.
HVO, or hydrotreated vegetable oil, has not completely disappeared from the system. According to The Guardian's report, part of the backup power supply still relies on HVO generators, so FORWARDS is not literally an event with no fuel combustion whatsoever. HVO can have a lower life-cycle carbon footprint than fossil diesel, but combustion emissions are still generated at the site. It is therefore more precise to speak of a festival almost without traditional diesel generators than of a completely zero-emission event.
From the Massive Attack concert to a publicly supported energy pilot
Today's project follows directly from the ACT 1.5 concert by Massive Attack held at Clifton Downs on 25 August 2024. The event was designed as a practical implementation of guidelines that Massive Attack and ACT 1.5 had been developing with researchers from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester. After the concert, the Tyndall Centre published an analysis according to which electricity-related emissions were reduced by 81 to 98 percent compared with a comparable conventional event, while reductions were also recorded in food, equipment transport and artist travel. The concert used battery-powered stages, additional rail capacity, electric transport and a range of other measures, serving as evidence that a climate-focused approach must encompass the entire production rather than only the source of electricity behind the stage.
The West of England Clean Power Pilot represents the next step: an attempt to turn solutions from a one-off demonstration event into infrastructure that can be shared by different organisations. The programme connects the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, Bristol City Council, ACT 1.5, Team Love, The Bottle Yard Studios and several energy suppliers, and is also supported by Arts Council England. The regional authority states that the pilot is funded through West of England Mayor Helen Godwin's Green Energy Fund and aims to develop a commercially sustainable model for events and productions. Unlike an individual festival that uses its own equipment for only a few days each year, a shared system of batteries, charging facilities, logistics and technical expertise can be moved between locations and achieve considerably greater utilisation. This ability to share infrastructure is crucial if clean temporary energy is to become financially competitive with the established diesel-generator rental network.
The pilot is already moving beyond music festivals
During the summer of 2026, the project was not limited to FORWARDS. According to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, mobile clean energy was used at events such as the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Love Saves the Day and Bristol Harbour Festival, as well as in film and television productions associated with The Bottle Yard Studios. Among them, the regional authority lists ITV's drama "Mavis Eccleston", the second season of the Prime Video series "Young Sherlock" and the BBC production "Can You Keep a Secret?". The same system is therefore being tested in sectors that share a similar problem: they need large amounts of energy temporarily and often at locations without a sufficiently powerful grid connection.
For film and television crews, mobile batteries can be particularly useful because shoots move constantly, while generator noise can sometimes directly interfere with sound on set. For festivals, the key requirement is the ability to supply large amounts of energy over several days, with sudden changes in load and a very low tolerance for interruptions. For local authorities, the advantage is that the same infrastructure can serve events on public spaces, cultural projects and commercial productions. Katherine Nash, head of The Bottle Yard Studios, described the Battery Hub as a way of making clean temporary energy realistically accessible to productions across the region. It is precisely this cross-sector application that could determine whether the pilot remains an interesting technological demonstration or develops into a permanent model.
FORWARDS as a test of reliability, not just sustainability
For organisers of major events, an environmental advantage alone is not enough if the system is not reliable. A concert or television shoot cannot simply stop because a battery is empty, and a major music performance requires stable power quality for sensitive audio, video and communications equipment. GeoPura states that its HPU systems combine a fuel cell with an integrated battery precisely to ensure continuous power and smooth fluctuations in load. Mobile BESS systems, meanwhile, allow capacity to be added or moved according to the needs of individual festival zones. FORWARDS therefore functions as an operational stress test: the technology must work in a real crowd, during long daily shifts, under changing weather conditions and without room for lengthy technical interventions.
If the results are good, the regional authority is already announcing an ambition to expand the model during 2027. Its announcement of 28 August states that the goal is to develop a model that could be applied in other sectors, other parts of the United Kingdom and potentially internationally. That does not mean hydrogen and batteries will automatically replace every generator: different locations have different grid connections, consumption patterns, safety requirements and logistical possibilities. However, data collected over an entire season of events can help organisers determine where batteries are already economically and technically sufficient, where a longer-duration source such as hydrogen fuel cells is required and where backup technology is still necessary. This level of practical data is often precisely what is missing when the sustainability of major events is discussed only through targets and declarations.
Festival at Clifton Downs and practical information for visitors
FORWARDS takes place on Durdham Down, part of the wider Clifton Downs area in Bristol, on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August. According to the festival's official information, the gates open at 12 noon, final entry is at 8 p.m., and the programme ends at 11 p.m. Organisers encourage visitors to arrive on foot, by bicycle or by public transport, and there is no general visitor parking at the site; traffic restrictions also apply in surrounding streets during the event. For audiences travelling to Bristol from other cities or countries, it is useful to plan transport in advance and arrange accommodation for festival visitors in Bristol, especially because the programme extends across the entire weekend and includes several major performances. The site is also located alongside the Avon Gorge and protected natural areas, so the festival's rules place particular emphasis on reducing waste, using reusable systems and carefully managing the space.
The official FORWARDS website states that since 2022 the festival has gradually introduced hybrid, battery and solar solutions, while 2026 marks the first use of hydrogen for the main stage. After the weekend, the most important information will therefore be operational data on actual consumption, the need for backup power, logistics and costs. Only these figures will show how easily the system can be replicated without the special conditions of a pilot project.
What the industry will be watching after the final performance
For the British and international cultural industry, Bristol this weekend is demonstrating what a transition from individual "green" additions to a comprehensive temporary-energy system could look like. The Clean Power Pilot coordinates hydrogen, batteries, charging facilities and logistics as a shared service, and the regional authority presents the approach as a pioneering model. Its true value will depend on the results after the season and on whether costs, reliability and equipment availability allow the system to be replicated without special project support. If the experience from Bristol is successfully transferred to other festivals, television sets and temporary events, the impact of this weekend could be visible far beyond a single music venue.
Sources:
- West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - announcement of 28 August 2026 about the Clean Power Pilot, partners, the FORWARDS festival and expansion plans (link)
- FORWARDS - official sustainability page with information on hydrogen at the main stage, energy, transport and environmental measures (link)
- FORWARDS - official information on dates, opening hours, location and rules for arriving at the festival (link)
- FORWARDS - official artist schedule for 29 and 30 August 2026 (link)
- GeoPura - technical information on the Hydrogen Power Unit system, fuel cells, integrated batteries and emissions at the point of use (link)
- The Bottle Yard Studios - information on the Clean Power Pilot Battery Hub, the 200 kVA connection and the range of mobile BESS units used (link)
- Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research - analysis of the results of Massive Attack's ACT 1.5 event from 2024 and emissions reductions in key categories (link)
- The Guardian - report on the combination of hydrogen, mobile batteries and limited HVO backup power at FORWARDS 2026 (link)