Thousands of attendees gathered for Lollapalooza 2025, enjoying live performances by Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Olivia Rodrigo, Mon Laferte, and Tool.
Among the fans, a dedicated group set out with a clear mission: to find out the energy consumption of each act in order to promote sustainability for future editions of the music festival.
One of those interested in a more eco-friendly show is Dr. Matías Díaz, director of the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Santiago (Usach), who, together with the Regional Ministerial Secretary for Energy of the Metropolitan Region and Lotus, is working on a project to achieve more sustainable energy.
“We installed energy meters that will allow us to map how much energy is consumed by different sectors at the festival,” said the academic. We installed them on Wednesday and will remove them on Sunday night.”
He added, “Next week, we will map the results to see what happened. For example, when the band Babasónicos comes on stage and another artist performs, there is a huge peak in energy consumption from the screens, lights, and sound.”
Measuring energy
Coordinating engineer for Lollapalooza 2025 Esteban Gallardo, said that “a large stage or main stage consumes one megawatt, according to official figures. Consumption generally ranges around 500 kilowatts, but the system is reinforced to double that amount, bearing in mind that neither the performers nor the show can fail. Each sector will have its own power system."
He added that the festival is “like a mini city. A mini city where each one has its own generator. Each one has its own generator and functions as a generation island.”
On the other hand, Iván Morán, regional ministerial secretary for energy in the Metropolitan Region, assured that “we are fully committed to sustainability. We believe that electromobility will be a great contribution in the future, not only for vehicles. What we are currently working on with the University of Santiago is the reuse of batteries that will be removed from electric vehicles, which we can reuse, such as the storage system.”
He added that “in the future, these storage systems will allow us, for example, to make large events more sustainable because they will be powered by stored renewable electricity. Today, most generators run on fuel.”
Iván Morán explained, “What we are doing now with professionals from Usach, together with the production company Lotus, is taking measurements at different points. This is a large event that consumes a lot of energy and has different points of expenditure. We are measuring at different points to see the consumption curves.”
The project
Matías Díaz explained that they have already worked together with the Seremi and explained why they made the decision to carry out this project. “We started talking about how to decarbonize this sector of mass events and disaster management,” he said.
“We are working at Usach to develop energy storage systems that do not depend on fossil fuels. That opened a window, through the Seremi, and we arrived at Lotus. Our job as a department is to try to promote new technologies in electricity,” he said.
The director of the Electrical Engineering Department at Usach elaborated on the fieldwork. “First, we are finding out exactly how much energy is consumed and what is consumed. The study we are conducting this weekend is just that: mapping the energy profile of a giant festival like Lollapalooza.”
He also pointed, “For example, when a stage is turned off, there is baseline consumption, but then when the performer comes on, consumption increases 20 or 30 times. So, knowing this allows you to define the electrical system will be able to provide that energy.”
In search of sustainable options
Esteban Gallardo, coordinating engineer for Lollapalooza 2025, said that these types of projects are innovative in ecological terms. “I think it's a great and innovative idea. Few institutions or governments are investing in research on what to do with second-life batteries,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Regional Minister for Energy for the Metropolitan Region stated, “Having this information is key to designing energy solutions for the future. For example, next year we hope for the entire restaurant sector to have renewable storage, with stored batteries. We are going to charge them and have them in the system.”
He added, “This work will be going on for several years. We are just getting started. I believe that in five years we will probably have a Zero Emissions or Carbon Neutral Loolapalooza.”
Finally, Dr. Matías Díaz assured, “This is what we have to do, it is our role as a public and state university: to liaise with the productive sector by offering technological solutions. That is what we are working on now.”