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Power for the iconic 50th National Day celebrations of the UAE

Client: LarMac PROJECTS ME Ltd & People FFZ LLC

Location: Hatta Water Dam, UAE

Sectors: Events

The Impact

The U.A.E puts on a unique, spectacular show that lives up to its glorious 50 years

Aggreko’s seamless power solution allowed a bare and unused site to be transformed to a fully powered and operative venue capable of accommodating thousands of staff and visitors to the event.

Our Events’ Services Team successfully delivered all the planning and coordination to the highest standards with a strict emphasis on day-to-day performances with daily briefs and follow up meetings.

We also brought a sustainable element to the site by using solar-powered LED lights capable of functioning throughout the night-time ensuring the safety of construction and operations around the site.

Overall, the project was a massive success – one that paid a true homage to the 50 years of the nation that will be remembered for years to come.

Key Facts

Power provided 16MW
Diesel generators 59 units
Distribution panels 245
Power cables 135km

The Solution

16 MW of clean, reliable power with complete turnkey solution supplied over a period of 6 months

With some of the biggest names and production companies associated with the project, Aggreko was selected as the ideal partner for power solutions for an event of this scale.

Needless to say, everything from pre-production, testing to the final live show had to be perfect with absolutely no room for errors.

The equipment and crew for the project were all sourced from our local depot in the UAE. With a massive workforce and a wide range of equipment, our team of experts were ready on-site months before the actual event took place.

Power for the main show production was divided into four separate power packages that was connected to 17 different sites and used for powering the Scenic & Water Systems, Rigging, Lighting, Projection, Audio, Comms & CCTV, Lasers & Smoke, Drones, Pyro and Broadcast.

Multiple power packages were installed to power up the temporary infrastructures like Portacabins, Tents and Buggy Charging areas across multiple zones.

Additionally, separate power packages were setup for the build-up and teardown operations including power for towers, pontoons, mobile cranes, and all the electrical-powered construction tools.

As per the initial concept, the main power package was to be delivered as a HV system with step-up and down transformer for a LV distribution to overcome the voltage drop caused by the distance between the generator farm and lower slip way.

Deploying a HV system was a critical part of the job requiring a Neural Earthing Transformer installation connected to a suitable earth pit. HV cables need to be mechanically protected by steel wire armour and surface mounted along with signposts to avoid damage or non-authorised access.

But at a later stage, as the project developed, the client decided to reroute the cable pathways and relocate some of the most critical areas fed from the main power package and the HV system had to be removed leading to a major change in the layout.

Keeping in mind the unique design with the stages afloat on water, some of the power consumers were placed on pontoons that required our staff to undergo an additional safety training to ensure safety of crew and equipment over water.

The Impact

The U.A.E puts on a unique, spectacular show that lives up to its glorious 50 years

Aggreko’s seamless power solution allowed a bare and unused site to be transformed to a fully powered and operative venue capable of accommodating thousands of staff and visitors to the event.

Our Events’ Services Team successfully delivered all the planning and coordination to the highest standards with a strict emphasis on day-to-day performances with daily briefs and follow up meetings.

We also brought a sustainable element to the site by using solar-powered LED lights capable of functioning throughout the night-time ensuring the safety of construction and operations around the site.

Overall, the project was a massive success – one that paid a true homage to the 50 years of the nation that will be remembered for years to come.