When Formula 1 rolls into the Red Bull Ring this weekend, it will do so on the back of one of the more quietly significant moments in the sport’s sustainability journey.
It was at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2023 that Aggreko, F1’s Official Temporary Power Partner, first trialled a centralised on-site energy model including solar PV, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Stage V generators fuelled by hydrotreated vegetable oil, known as HVO.
The results were stark enough to change how the sport thinks about power at every European round that followed.
What began as a single pilot has since been refined across multiple race weekends, each one feeding data into the next as Aggreko and F1 work to bring event operation emissions consistently down without compromising the reliability the sport demands.
“The Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix was a real turning point for us,” Dawn Demellweek, Compliance and Sustainability Director at Aggreko, told Sector.
“We developed and centralised the hybridised energy solution across the site and transitioned to HVO fuel, which delivered around a 90 percent reduction in emissions from that setup.
“That gave us a proven model. From there, our focus has been on consistency and performance – so across every subsequent race, we’ve monitored energy consumption and fuel efficiency in detail, making sure we’re achieving the same or better energy intensity each time.”
The scale of what Aggreko now deploys across F1’s European calendar reflects how far that model has travelled since Austria.
Every European circuit gets a tailored solution, a combination of hybridised battery energy storage systems, Stage V generators running on HVO and solar PV designed around the track’s specific energy profile.
We can demonstrate that the energy solution we’re delivering – and continuously optimising – is a significant, proven driver of progress toward F1’s Net Zero 2030 target.
Dawn Demellweek
The system is trialled in advance and monitored in real time by an embedded on-site team throughout the weekend.
“We work with Formula 1 to analyse their specific energy needs for each European circuit – because every track is different,” explained Demellweek.
“Each race gives us new data and insight, which we feed into the next one. So we’re constantly refining the solution, improving efficiency and reducing emissions, while making sure performance is never compromised.”
The impact runs beyond fuel switching. One of the less visible consequences of centralising the energy solution on-site has been a reduction in the number of generators required.
“By centralising the energy solution, we’ve cut the number of generators on site, which also reduces what needs to be transported between races,” said Demellweek.
“From there, it becomes a joint effort to move that equipment in the most efficient way – looking at routing, transport modes and timing to minimise impact.”
Those gains feed into F1’s broader sustainability numbers.
Sector spoke to F1’s Head of ESG Ellen Jones on The Business of Formula 1 podcast last week after the sport’s latest sustainability report confirmed a 35 percent reduction in its carbon footprint since 2018, with event operation emissions down 17 percent on a per-race basis.
Demellweek knows Aggreko can show its working when it comes to the role it plays in bringing down those key numbers, but also that the company is not operating independently to do so.
“We can demonstrate that the energy solution we’re delivering – and continuously optimising – is a significant, proven driver of progress toward F1’s Net Zero 2030 target,” she said.
“This is not something any one partner can deliver in isolation. The progress you see is coming from combining those efforts – sharing data, learning quickly, and aligning solutions – rather than operating in separate lanes.”
Looking further ahead, Demellweek pointed to what she believes will be the next significant frontier for temporary power at live events.
“Hydrogen is the really exciting opportunity,” she said.
“It has the potential to reduce emissions further – but today, the technology and infrastructure aren’t yet at the scale or reliability needed for an event like Formula 1.
“Our focus with F1 is to keep pushing that forward – trialling and learning – while continuing to deploy the solutions that are proven to deliver right now.”
For Aggreko, the Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix this weekend is not just another race, it is a return to the circuit where the model was first proven and presents a chance to show how far it has come since.
