A trailblazing green energy company is helping to power the Festival of Thrift site with low-cost renewable energy for this year’s event after winning the festival’s Green Power Challenge.

Vero Power, a north east-based manufacturer of renewable power generators and renewable energy systems for all sectors, is installing its unique hybrid, mobile and modular solar powered ReGenerator, pictured below at the Port of Sunderland, to replace diesel generators on part of the festival site.

The company’s sustainable power system will not only provide a cleaner, net zero source of energy, it will also help cut energy costs and operates at a near silent level.

The award-winning nationally-recognised event, celebrating its tenth anniversary year, is taking place at Kirkleatham near Redcar on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September. A host of performances, demonstrations, talks, exhibitions, stalls and food and drink are all designed to encourage sustainable living.

Craig Morgan, Managing Director of Vero Power said: “We’re extremely proud to be the winners of the Green Power Challenge and partner with the festival to provide part of its power needs for the weekend. We hope that our contribution will help raise much needed public awareness that switching to renewable sources of power is an essential part of living more sustainably.”

He added that the Festival of Thrift’s Green Power Challenge provided an ideal opportunity to disprove many misconceptions about renewable power: “For too long renewable power has been seen as not reliable, as not being able to provide sustained power particularly where large demand is needed consistently.

“We’ve delivered renewable power solutions globally and have seen the massive long-term benefits associated with clean sustainable power. We hope that by providing part of the festival’s power via renewable technology we can demonstrate to businesses and organisations that power can be provided easily via renewable technologies which will help reduce their carbon footprint and aid their net zero targets.”

Festival of Thrift’s Green Power Challenge, which ran earlier this year in partnership with Teesside University and Creative Fuse North East, offered a £10,000 grant from Anglo American, owner of the Woodsmith Project, the polyhalite mine being developed on the North Yorkshire coast, to develop an innovative green power solution for the event.

“We are proud to support an initiative that will help deliver a more sustainable future for Festival of Thrift and prompt wider use of renewables at other events like this,” said Gareth Edmunds, Anglo American’s Corporate Relations Director.

Festival of Thrift Executive Director, Emma Whitenstall, pictured above, said that it was exciting to be working with Vero Power: “We love Vero Power’s innovative ideas and its impressive technology for powering part of our site and are hugely grateful to Anglo American for supporting our Green Power Challenge.

“As we all face dramatically rising energy costs it is essential that new and sustainable sources of energy are explored and championed. Working with Vero Power we are helping to shine a light on a workable solution as well as supporting an ambitious north east business.”

Dale Barry, Vero Power’s Managing Director for the company’s engineering division, added that the company was very happy to be working with Festival of Thrift: “It is an amazing event. A shining light of sustainability showing the benefits of sustainable living to individuals and communities constantly for ten years now. It’s truly unique in the way it teaches via workshops, exhibitions and performances in one action-packed weekend of fun.

“The festival is a beacon of how to promote small changes which we can all make that will have a huge long term positive impact for the future of our planet.”

Vero Power operates from its manufacturing headquarters at the Port of Sunderland. It was set up in 2018, initially providing renewable power to some of the world’s most underserved communities paving the way for economic advancement, addressing poverty and jumpstarting efforts to create and accelerate economic activity.

The company has now expanded to deploy its technology and services to aid customers’ energy transition targets by moving their power generation to renewable sources. Providing renewable power to the construction, infrastructure, agricultural, rural, petrochemical and events sectors underpinned by the company’s specialist design and engineering team that has proved that renewable power can, not just reduce, but completely replace reliance on fossil fuels.

Vero Power’s ReGenerator system drastically reduces carbon emissions against traditional forms of power generation and via its online cloud portal captures the energy use data providing 24/7 monitoring so energy consumption can be managed remotely.

Festival of Thrift takes place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September at Kirkleatham near Redcar. Entry is free. Parking costs £6 per car (which includes a £1 carbon offset contribution).

To see the full programme for the weekend click HERE and follow @festivalofthrift on Facebook or Instagram for updates.

Festival of Thrift is funded thanks to generous support from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, the Arts Council of England and Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority.