Portable Power Solutions

Here is how this works in practice. We give portable power as a planned production service, because so much of Iceland is shot far from any grid connection. Our packages combine quiet inverter power packs, large-capacity battery stations and solar where conditions allow, sized to the lighting, camera and crew-comfort load of each day. Cold is the defining factor: power packs need cold-weather rated fuel, oil and starting procedures for sub-zero mornings, and battery capacity falls in low temperatures, so we calculate headroom into each plan and keep cells warmed.

Here is the short of it. We run distribution and cable routing engineered for frost, spray and Highland wind, with weather protection on each junction. Our crews plan refuelling logistics for locations a long way from the nearest fuel. F-road sites in the Highlands reached only by 4x4 super-jeeps need power calculated against what a car can carry. We set up power for everything from a small documentary unit to a full feature lighting department, staffing from the skilled Reykjavík crew base and bringing in extra power packs and battery inventory from the UK and mainland Europe for larger jobs.

Here is the breakdown. Iceland presents a distinctive power picture. Where the grid reaches, electricity is close to 100 per cent renewable, drawn from geothermal and hydroelectric sources, so mains-fed shoots are clean and low-cost. But the locations that draw shoots — the volcanic Highlands at Landmannalaugar and Þórsmörk, glacier edges on Vatnajökull, remote stretches of the Ring Road — are off-grid, and portable power is what makes filming there possible. The Highlands are reachable only in summer via F-roads. This constrains how power packs and fuel are moved in.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. The fragile subarctic environment, where moss and lava recover only over decades, makes low-impact, quiet, well-contained power important, and filming in covered areas is set up with the Environment Agency of the country. Eligible gear and crew spend on power can count toward the country's production reimbursement of 25 per cent, rising to 35 per cent for qualifying projects, administered by Film in the country.