Understanding your event's power needs is critical to the overall success of your event. To ensure power is managed effectively, you will need a Power Management Plan.
Assessing the event’s power requirements
To determine how much power will be required to operate your event, you need to know where the existing power is, how much power is available, who needs power and how much power they need.
Once this information has been collected, you should make available and allocate the power to event participants and contractors.
Knowing what the event's power requirements are and having the right amount of power in the right spot at the right time is one of the most important investments in pre event planning that you can make as an event organiser.
To find out where and how much power is available on site, arrange with your nominated Events Officer to gain access to the on-site power boxes and visit the site with your event electrician to make an assessment.
To find out what equipment needs power and how much power the equipment needs (3 phase, 10 amps etc), ask your event participants and contractors during the planning stage what their requirements are and record the information. (This is the start of your Power Management Plan).
As a guide:
- typically food vendors and merchants may need to access 15amp and 30amp power points
- mobile food vans may have a generator or need access to mains power
- stages and technicians operating large scale equipment and machines may need access to 3 phase power
- inflatable and mechanical ride operators may have a generator or need access to mains power
- temporary lights if not supplied with a generator will need power
After it has been determined what power supply is available on site and where it is located, you should be able to gauge if the power supply is sufficient to cater for all the events electrical requirements or if extra power such as a generator is required.
Provide the electrician with the information regarding the events power requirements. The electrician should advise the event organiser if the on-site mains power, is able to support the events power requirements and if a generator is required.
Questions that should be answered when calculating the events power requirements
- Is the mains power on site able to cater for the events power requirements?
- Is a distribution board required?
- Is a generator required?
Your event electrician should advise you if a generator is required to meet the event's power requirements. They should also stipulate what size generator, how the power will be distributed to the event participants and if and when it would need refuelling.
Your site plan should show where all the power sources are and include any power leads.
Your event's risk assessment should address how power is managed safely at the event.