world cup

How much power will the World Cup football stadiums consume?

After months and years of anticipation, this year’s World Cup has finally kicked off! It’s been on our calendars for a long while here at Rubber Box – as well as supplying power distribution equipment to our UK-based customers, we’ve also been undertaking some work in the run-up to the event, for a major broadcaster planning on covering it. As we were working on that project, we found that one question kept coming up over and over again: how much power do football stadium like these ones in Russia actually consume? Spoiler alert: it’s a lot!

The most power intensive-locations in the world

Obviously, we’d find it quite difficult to give you exact numbers for how much the average football stadium consumes. After all, ‘average’ is quite a broad definition; almost all stadiums have all sorts of factors which affect their specific power consumption. So it’s rather like a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question.

However, we can give you one specific example that should give you an idea of the sort of scale we’re probably talking. One of the largest NFL stadiums in America is the AT&T Stadium. According to experts, during moments of peak demand on game days, the stadium is capable of consuming a staggering 10 megawatts of electricity. To put that into perspective, that’s enough to power more than 3,500 homes, and around three times the amount of energy that the African nation of Liberia is capable of pumping into their national grid in the space of 24 hours. It’s really quite something! That’s of course at the top end of the global energy consumption scale, but there are a lot of football stadiums around the world that don’t differ that much in terms of consumption.

What needs power at a football stadium?

football stadium

While still amazingly huge, that number becomes a little more understandable once you realise what all this goes into powering, and where power distribution systems have to send all this energy. At the bare minimum, the Russian World Cup stadiums will likely have to account for at least some of the following:

– Floodlights to light the stadium (nowadays, these are mostly high-tech LED lights)

– Massive screen displays for live-action relays to the crowds

– Video walls in training and management areas, so team and stadium officials can keep track of the action

– Sound systems

– Refreshments, catering facilities and hospitality

– Satellite connectivity and broadcasting facilities (obviously a big consideration in the World Cup!)

– Temperature control

This last one is often a particularly vital consideration, covering both the air conditioning and heating facilities for stadiums to keep the fans as comfortable as possible. It’s one of those things that, as a fan, you don’t really notice until it’s gone! It also encompasses “backstage” facilities, too. For example, several stadiums are implementing underfloor heating systems in their clubhouses, finding it a more energy efficient solution to typical temperature control solutions.

We’re not 100% sure about what Russia are doing for their stadiums, but we know that in the UK at least, many clubs are investing in high-tech solutions to try and improve their energy efficiency. In Manchester FC’s stadium, for example, they have tri-generation systems, absorption chillers, and combined heat and power systems (CHP) to export electricity internally and externally to the grid. Solar panels are a big focus in saving energy, too. The largest concentration of them at a single stadium so far in the UK is in a town called Llanelli in Wales, home to a stadium equipped with 1000 panels from which to draw power. So, when it comes to powering stadiums like those at the World Cup, where does Rubber Box fit in?

We’re helping to bring the action to millions across the globe

As we touched on above, in the run up to the event we were contacted by a leading US TV corporation, which was in the midst of planning its coverage of the World Cup. However, they were in urgent need of some power distros and cables to properly power their equipment. As with many of the jobs we undertake here at Rubber Box, it was a lot to handle in a relatively short timescale, but we’re pleased to say that we succeeded in supplying all their equipment in record time – ultimately enabling millions to revel in the action!

Of course, we’re committed to delivering the same outstanding quality of service to all of our clients, whatever the stakes! Feel free to browse our full range of power distros on our website, for example these 63A power distribution boxes. If you can’t quite find what you’re looking for, you might even want to consider talking to us about a bespoke distro – just give us a call on 01282 677 910, and we’ll be happy to advise!

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