Scottish Clean Power Start-Up Powers First Zero-Carbon Moments During Edinburgh International Festival

PlusZero demonstrates potential of hydrogen based clean portable power in first step towards decarbonizing the events sector.

A Scottish clean power start-up has successfully powered a series of high-profile performances at the Edinburgh International Festival with a pioneering new zero-carbon generator fueled by green hydrogen.

PlusZero, launched in 2020 by founder David Amos, creates portable, zero-carbon generators that are powered by green hydrogen created using renewable electricity generated on the Scottish islands, with the aim of replacing greenhouse gas-emitting diesel generators.

In a first for Scotland’s outdoor events sector, the PlusZero generator powered performances by artists including the Scottish award-winning avant-pop artist and composer Anna Meredith at the Edinburgh International Festival at Edinburgh Park this week.

The performance, powered by PlusZero, marked Meredith’s first performance in Scotland in 2021 and a welcome home-coming for the musician whose recent album FIBS was nominated for the 2020 Mercury Prize. Meredith has a long-standing relationship with the International Festival, having opened the festival in 2018.

Founder and Managing Director of PlusZero, David Amos, said:

“The carbon saved during these high-profile demonstrations is a small first step on the journey to removing the 1.2million tonnes of carbon that is emitted every year by the diesel generators used to power the UK’s outdoor events sector - but we’ve started.

“We are excited to continue our journey to decarbonise the events sector with further demonstrations throughout Edinburgh’s events programme in 2021, ahead of the commercial launch of our clean-power solution next year.

 “Scotland’s events sector is a vibrant and growing part of the economy, offering world-class entertainment, diverse cultural experiences and contributing massively to collective happiness. As the sector gets back to doing what it does best after a turbulent 18 months, I firmly believe that PlusZero can play a role in a truly green recovery for the sector.

 “PlusZero is immensely grateful to Edinburgh International Festival, Anna Meridith and the other performers for providing the platform for us to demonstrate the fantastic potential of this technology in a live event environment. The support received from the Scottish Government and our technical partners Logan Energy and CMB.TECH has also been hugely instructive in making this first step a reality.”