Dutch stadium to power gigs with ‘super battery’

Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Netherlands’ largest stadium, hopes to power its concerts with a newly installed ‘super battery’.

It comes after the Amsterdam venue ran entirely on sustainable energy during last weekend’s football match between home team AFC Ajax and SC Heerenveen.

Everything from the elevators to the stadium lights and the beer taps to the lighting in the players’ tunnel was powered by energy from 4,200 solar panels on the venue’s roof.

The energy had been stored in two super batteries with a combined storage capacity of 8.6 megawatt hours – enough energy to charge 1.7 million phones or supply around 20,000 households with electricity for an hour.

“There are certainly other stadiums worldwide with a battery, but not on the scale that we have”

The stadium’s batteries are supplemented with green energy from a local wind turbine and solar park, purchased via the energy marketplace. An LED grass growth system for the turf and LED lighting are also part of the venue’s sustainability model.

Facility manager Meindert Slagt told Parool that the stadium, which recently hosted concerts with Taylor Swift and P!nk, hopes to use the green energy system for concerts too.

“Many artists still tour with diesel generators,” she said. “We are working on a permanent connection for light and sound so that they can switch to sustainable energy from our battery.”

The venue was an early adopter of sustainability measures, having installed its first battery in 2018, and hopes to realise Net Positive events by 2030.

As Slagt points out, ArenA’s super battery gives them an advantage: “There are certainly other stadiums worldwide with a battery, but not on the scale that we have.”

Battery-powered shows have already been embraced by artists including Billie Eilish, Bruce Springsteen, Lukas Graham and Dave Matthews Band, and festivals such as Lollapalooza.

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