Atlas Copco Rental powers up Rock in Rio

Antwerp, Belgium, September 21, 2015 – Rock in Rio, one of the biggest music festivals worldwide, sets foot again in Brazil in September 2015. The festival’s Lisbon edition in May 2014 relied on Atlas Copco Rental to power up their site. With an underground electrical network, the Lisbon festival was ensured of a reliable power supply from beginning to end.

September 24, 2015

Technical challenge With 9710 kVA required power and 18.540 meters of electrical cables, Rock in Rio Lisbon was quite a challenge to power up. This meant 43 power generators (from 20 kVA up to 1.000 kVA), 700 cables and 103 distribution boards. The generators were installed in parallel and all had standby power. In the 2014 Lisbon edition, a new central part of the cables formed an underground network and delivered power to the lighting towers, stage, sound installations, bars, and all other parts of the festival.

Advantages of underground electric network Working with an underground network provide several advantages.

With the underground network we can save on fuel consumption, reduce the environmental impact and reduce the noise.

Ricardo Escarduça , Technical Director of Rock in Rio Lisboa
Other advantages are an increased reliability because all powered systems are in parallel. The network also allows for easy project management, since the units are centralized in one location. Safety first Over the 5 days of the event, more than 340.000 people attended Rock in Rio, so safety precautions were paramount. All equipment were meticulously prepared before being installed on the site: radiators and fuel tanks were cleaned, performance was tested and cables were checked more than once. Moreover, all cables and distribution panels were over-sized to take overload.

Intensive preparation, 24/7 service An extensive project like Rock in Rio needs intensive preparation. 3 project leaders and 8 technicians were 100% dedicated to this job: from project design (1 month), installation (14 days), commissioning and testing (10 days), to the actual festival (5 days). All this time they were available 24/7. Atlas Copco Rental recommended

The Atlas Copco Rental employees did their utmost best to get the job done. They are very professional and collaborative. They think with you and offer all sorts of technical solutions. I would definitely recommend Atlas Copco Rental to other colleagues.

Ricardo Escarduça

For further information please contact

  • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:
    • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:
      • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:

        Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. The Group serves customers with innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems. Atlas Copco develops products and service focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. The company was founded in 1873, is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a global reach spanning more than 180 countries. In 2015, Atlas Copco had revenues of BSEK 102 (BEUR 11) and more than 43 000 employees.

        Specialty Rental is a division within Atlas Copco’s Construction Technique business area. It serves customers in the industry segments around the world with temporary air, nitrogen, steam and power rental solutions. The specialty rental services are offered under several brands. The divisional headquarters is located in Houston, USA.

Scroll up