The energy behind Eden

The embedded camera crew follows the participants as they fend for themselves in the unforgiving terrain of the Scottish Highlands, capturing how they overcome the challenges of being cut off from the modern world. The camera crew are there to tell the majority of the story as they will be following the community around, on top of the cameras fitted in the secluded area. Given the remote nature of the site and limited protection from the elements, the camera crew and production staff need access to continuous, reliable power all year round.

To achieve this, Initiative Electrical supplied Channel 4 with a range of power equipment, including a voltage stabiliser from REO UK. The stabiliser has been designed to mitigate input-voltage fluctuations and regulate this for a consistent output. To account for every possibility, the stabiliser also has a redundancy built into the system to maintain an ongoing, high quality power supply in the event of failure.

“When you’re filming in remote locations it’s vital that power quality can be maintained,” explained Steve Hughes, managing director of REO UK. “If cameras and other filming machinery, such as rigs and microphones, are subjected to unstable voltages then the quality of footage captured could be compromised, not to mention the increased risk of power failure and increased energy use. For a project such as this, which relies on round the clock filming, this is simply not an option.”

Hughes continued: “We worked with Initiative Electrical to provide Channel 4 with a voltage stabiliser that would help keep the crew up and running for the length of the project, come rain or shine.”

There are redundancies built into the product to prevent loss of power quality in the event of failure and we have also designed the modular stabiliser in such a way that it is easily serviceable onsite by the crew there, Hughes added. “This negates the need to wait for engineers to have to travel to the remote location to address any potential issues.”