Liverpool City Council will offer a network of ‘plug and play’ power facilities across the city centre for TV and movie crews to cut pollution and emissions. Tony McDonough reports

TV and movie crews filming in Liverpool city centre will be able to access a network of ‘plug and play’ facilities in a pilot project that aims to cut carbon emissions.

Liverpool is the most filmed location in the UK outside of London. Crews from major TV dramas such as Peaky Blinders and Hollywood blockbusters such as The Batman are a common sight.

However, production of facilities such as powerful lighting is often provided by portable diesel generators. These can be polluting and create higher CO2 emissions.

On Friday Liverpool is officially declared the world’s first UN Accelerator City for Climate Action. Now, in a bid to make sure it lives up to the tag the city council plans to install mains power points in the city centre for film crews to plug in to.

Building on work already trialled on a smaller scale in London, this project sees the city collaborating with Ecotricity X Grid Faeries to explore installation of ‘power pillars’.

The hope is that bands, film crews, event managers and broadcasters will be able to plug directly into the grid removing the need for diesel generators on site.

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Cllr Harry Doyle, Liverpool City Council Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing & Culture, said: “Initiatives such as this show the imagination and ingenuity that our creative sectors will be able to harness.

“These solutions will help the music, TV and film industries lower their carbon emissions without impacting on the quality or quantity of their fantastic work. These are incredibly important sectors for the city’s economy.”

Liverpool’s international reputation as a film location is largely thanks to the work of Liverpool Film Office, part of the city council, over the last few years. In February it launched an initiative to help local young people start a career in the industry.

Council leader Liam Robinson added: “This initiative is the first of a number of announcements which are connected to our new status as the world’s first UN Accelerator City.

“We are committed to being bold, ambitious and proactive in tackling climate change issues. While some of these initiatives may take time, they are central to us being presented this award by the UN.”