Power Distribution Systems

Here is how this works in practice. Our team designs and installs power distribution scaled to your lighting and gear load, with distro boxes, sub-distribution, feeder runs and breaker protection planned for each location. Iceland's mains is 230V at 50Hz. We configure systems and adapters to match, calculating loads with the gaffer and best boy and building in headroom for startup surges. Much of the country is shot far from any mains supply, so distribution is often planned around power packs, with cable runs, ramps and protection laid for ground that ranges from black sand to lava.

Here is the short of it. Distribution gear comes from the skilled Reykjavik rental base. For larger shoots we supplement distro, feeder cable and load-management gear from suppliers in the UK and mainland Europe under ATA carnet, since the country is outside the EU customs union. All gear is weatherproofed against wind, cold, blowing volcanic grit and glacial meltwater, RCD protection is used across, and gear is tested before delivery. We work with licensed Icelandic electricians for tie-ins to venue power and make sure each install complies with Icelandic electrical rules.

Here is the breakdown. Iceland's power picture has real advantages and real constraints. The country runs on close to 100 percent renewable electricity from geothermal and hydroelectric generation, so where mains exists it is stable and clean, and Reykjavik stages and many serviced locations connect readily. The constraint is distance: a large, sparsely populated subarctic island of around 103,000 square kilometres, much of it is shot at sites with no grid access at all, from the Highlands at Landmannalaugar, reachable only in summer via F-roads needing 4x4 super-jeeps, to remote stretches of the Ring Road.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Historic and covered sites, churches and turf buildings need careful, non-damaging cabling and venue planning. Weather changes fast, so distribution must take wind, cold and damp. Productions from 'Game of Thrones' to 'Interstellar' have powered large lighting setups across these conditions, where safe, well-planned distribution keeps a crew working reliably and within Icelandic electrical rules.