UK Venues to Run on Renewable Energy

AEG Europe announced a landmark agreement on Tuesday (Oct. 7) that will make its U.K. venues the first to run on the country’s greenest energy.

The European subsidiary of the global live entertainment promoter AEG has collaborated with green energy company Ecotricity on the agreement, which includes the introduction of PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) with a 100% renewable energy supply, and is backed by hourly-matched REGOs (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin).

The PPAs will allocate specific renewable energy assets to a number of AEG’s venue portfolio in the U.K. including The O2 in London, indigo at The O2, Eventim Apollo, Watford Colosseum and University of Wolverhampton at The Halls. As a result, these venues will operate predominantly on the deepest green energy generated by solar and hydro assets and meet audit-level scrutiny and transparency standards.

“PPAs are widely recognised as the gold standard in energy procurement, and we’re proud to play a role in launching this first-of-its-kind agreement,” said Sam Booth, AEG Europe’s director of sustainability. “It marks a significant milestone in the ongoing journey to decarbonise the live entertainment industry, and we’re pleased to help drive this progress.”

Earlier this summer, AEG’s All Points East and LIDO festivals harnessed the power of renewable battery energy during their events. During the latter, Grid Faeries x Ecotricity powered the main stage and parts of the site with renewable electricity, a first for the English capital. Massive Attack’s headline show on June 6 in Victoria Park, east London saw the entire event site operating for more than 32 hours on battery power alone.

Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotricity, said: “This is big news for live music, as venues across Britain – including London’s iconic The O2 – will be powered by deep green energy. AEG has already been working with us to bring clean power to outdoor festivals like All Points East and LIDO earlier this summer, with our Grid Faeries x Ecotricity battery. Now they’re going even further – bringing green power indoors. It’s a major step forward, and a proper milestone on the road to greening up the live entertainment world.”