Miami’s Ultra Festival Debuts First Zero-Emission Battery-Powered Stage

The Ultra Music Festival, set to take place from March 27 to 29 at Bayfront Park in Miami, Florida, will become the first major electronic music festival in the United States to power one of its main stages using batteries, without generating on-site greenhouse gas emissions, according to the organizers. Ultra’s RESISTANCE Cove Stage will operate using Showpower’s SmartGrid Battery System, charged through the existing electrical grid and eliminating the use of diesel generators, which are standard at such events.

The battery system is designed specifically for large-scale events and festivals, ensuring high-quality audio, lighting, and production standards with full redundancy and reliability, according to the organizers.

“Each year, we push ourselves to think bigger, and this next chapter reflects how collaboration, innovation, and culture are coming together to create lasting impact,” said Vivian Belzaguy Hunter, Sustainability Director, Ultra Music Festival, in a press release.

The initiative is part of the Music Decarbonization Project, led by the non-profit organization REVERB, which has been promoting the transition of festivals and tours to battery-based energy systems since 2023.

“Ultra’s deployment is exactly the kind of forward-thinking action the industry needs,” said Adam Gardner, Co-Founder of REVERB. “By partnering with Showpower to bring battery-powered technology to a major electronic festival, Ultra is proving that climate solutions can enhance live music production. This is a blueprint for the future of festivals,” he added.

According to the organizers, the project is supported by CES Power, a regular production partner, responsible for the event’s electrical distribution and temporary cabling. The batteries will be integrated into the existing infrastructure that CES Power uses to supply electricity to production areas via a grid connection.

By 2025, Ultra had already advanced its climate action efforts by connecting three of its seven stages to the power grid, thereby eliminating generators in those areas.

The integration of a battery system at the RESISTANCE Cove stage marks the festival’s first large-scale stage to undergo this transition, bringing the total number of generator free stages to four.

“For the past six years, Showpower’s team has worked closely with Ultra and CES Power to develop intelligent and sustainable power solutions as part of Mission: Home,” says Paul Schurink, Co-Founder of Showpower. “… This year, Ultra’s RESISTANCE Cove Stage provides the greatest opportunity to do that, by replacing a generator with a battery system charged by grid power,” he added.

The Mission: Home sustainability program, launched in 2019, has expanded alongside the festival’s growth.

According to organizational data, the program has reached 8.2 million people, diverted nearly 400,000 pounds of waste from landfills, and donated over 84,000 pounds of food and supplies to the local community.

The festival has earned several accolades, including the Sustainability Team Award in 2023, a Greener Future’s prestigious “Greener Festival” certification in 2025, and inclusion in IQ Magazine’s “Green Guardians” list, a compilation of 20 global leaders in sustainability. New initiatives planned for 2026 include a pilot of reusable souvenir cups and the “Mission: Home Cleanup Countdown” campaign, which will encourage attendees to help clean the festival grounds after performances in exchange for exclusive Ultra merchandise.

“Mission: Home has grown into something much bigger than a sustainability program… it’s become a powerful platform for inspiring action, building community, and showing what’s possible at scale,” said Vivian Belzaguy Hunter.

With these measures, Ultra aims to consolidate emissions reductions in its operations and position itself as a benchmark for sustainability within the live music industry, organizers stated.