Optimal Design and Operation of Temporary Power Installations: Case Study on CO₂ and Cost Savings for Outdoor Festivals in the Netherlands

Abstract

Outdoor music festivals and construction sites are relying on temporary power installations for electricity supply. Diesel generators are still the dominant source for these applications. Cost and diesel consumption data are gathered from different field applications, to simulate different configurations of diesel generators in parallel, based on heuristic modeling and linear programming. The model is tested on 27 historical energy demand profiles from 10 different outdoor music festivals which took place in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2018 to calculate the expected potential cost and carbon dioxide (CO2) savings. Better sizing of single generators can reduce the CO2 emissions by 17% and costs by 20% on average. The application of multiple generators in parallel can enhance these savings to 32% and 23%, respectively, thereby increasing the savings on both CO2 emissions and costs. The application of batteries in a diesel-hybrid configuration was not part of the optimization model, but a case study showed that the application of batteries in a diesel-hybrid configuration can lead to a CO2 reduction of 35.3%.