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

The U.A.E marked it’s Golden Jubilee - 50 years as a nation with 50 days of celebrations culminating in a spectacular live show - “Mirrors of the Union” at Dubai’s Hatta Water Dam.

The National Projects’ Office had contracted LarMac PROJECTS to design and produce the celebratory live show. Larmac developed a never-before-seen design consisting of a pair of large rotating mirror sculptures, set to float in an artificial pool of water - one carrying an audience of VIPs and the other staging a cast of live performers.

The audience were taken on a journey back in time to witness the creation of the union. Set against the scenic backdrop of the Hajar Mountains, the show featured lighting, projection, and water effects along with drone-launched fireworks to celebrate the occasion.

To provide additional support, People FFZ were contracted to manage the guest experience and provide back-of-house support for the event’s operations. Their scope of work involved deployment of massive infrastructures on the site some of which were needed to be built six months prior to the event.

Aggreko had been awarded as turnkey power provider for their live production and broadcasting in addition to powering the full infrastructure including the build-up and teardown.

Along with design, delivery and installation, our team of expert’s project-managed the full power requirement including the electrical distribution, cabling and end-to-end connections around the site.

One of the main challenges to overcome was the site design and layout. The mountainous landscape was uneven and elevated in several areas resulting in longer power cable routes that had to be meticulously placed around the site.

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.

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.