All in on renewable energy with Eneco
How Paradise City and Eneco are building a lower-emission festival together
On June 26, 27 and 28, Paradise City returns to the gardens of Kasteel Ribaucourt in Perk. While most tickets are already sold out, our focus behind the scenes remains the same as always: creating a festival that feels good in every sense of the word. Music, scenography and atmosphere are what people see first. But beneath the surface, there’s an entire energy system constantly evolving year after year. Together with Eneco, we continue working towards a festival infrastructure that relies less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy, smart grids and battery storage. Not as a marketing exercise, but as a practical, ongoing process that shapes how Paradise City is built from the ground up.
From build-up to breakdown
One of the biggest changes actually happens before the first track plays. Our build-up and breakdown now run entirely on green electricity. Instead of relying on diesel generators, crews use mobile batteries to power tools like saws and compressors during construction. Those batteries recharge overnight in our production zone, which itself runs on renewable energy. Around two-thirds of the festival site is now connected to fixed electricity, gradually replacing temporary generators. At the same time, our floating solar field on the lake is already active weeks before the festival opens, supplying energy throughout both build-up and breakdown. The production village combines fixed grid connections with on-site solar energy, creating a system that has been developed together with Eneco over several years and continues to improve every edition.
Smarter energy behind the scenes
At the centre of this setup is a smart energy network that connects different power sources: solar energy, batteries and the electricity grid. New this year are two high-capacity grid connections that help stabilise the festival’s energy supply. The system automatically switches between sources depending on demand and availability, always prioritising the most efficient option. Generators haven’t disappeared completely yet, but their role keeps shrinking. To manage all this more accurately, we now also work with a digital energy platform that gives us real-time insights into energy use and peak consumption. That allows us to optimise the setup before the festival even begins, instead of simply reacting on-site.
Progress, not perfection
In 2025, 55.4% of Paradise City’s total energy use came from renewable sources. At the same time, we reduced our HVO biofuel consumption by more than 40% compared to 2023, despite expanding the festival with more stages and a larger campsite. There’s still a long way to go. Building a fully renewable festival infrastructure doesn’t happen overnight. But every year, new systems are tested, refined and improved together with Eneco. Step by step, the festival becomes cleaner, smarter and less dependent on fossil fuels. And while most visitors may never notice what powers the lights behind the scenes, that’s kind of the point.
