Amazon MGM Studios’ latest blockbuster, Masters of the Universe, is the latest major production to replace diesel with hydrogen, using GeoPura HPUs to provide clean, reliable electricity across its production basecamp. The project demonstrates how hydrogen is already delivering the large-scale, mission-critical power required by major international productions, while improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions.
Working alongside sustainability consultancy Neptune Sustainability, GeoPura supplied three HPUs to power critical production infrastructure, including catering, production offices, crew facilities and rapid electric vehicle charging.
At the heart of every GeoPura HPU is a highly reliable Ballard hydrogen fuel cell, which converts hydrogen into electricity through an electrochemical process. Combined with GeoPura’s integrated battery system, it delivers the resilient, dependable power required by major film productions, with water as the only by-product at the point of use.
Throughout filming, GeoPura’s HPUs delivered the reliable, large-scale power needed to keep the production running, supporting essential facilities while eliminating harmful exhaust emissions at the point of use.
The project, recently featured by Amazon MGM Studios, highlights how hydrogen is becoming an established alternative to diesel generators across the film and television industry.
Watch the project in action:
Video courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Film productions demand continuous, resilient power. Cameras may stop rolling between takes, but production never stops.
Basecamps operate around the clock, supporting production offices, catering, wardrobe, hair and makeup, crew welfare facilities and an increasing number of electric vehicles. Any interruption to power can have significant operational and financial consequences.
GeoPura’s Hydrogen Power Units supplied reliable electricity throughout the production, providing the resilience and flexibility expected from traditional temporary power while eliminating diesel exhaust emissions where people spend long periods of time.
The systems powered:
The integrated battery system works alongside the Ballard fuel cell to maintain continuous power, respond instantly to changes in demand and deliver the resilience expected from mission-critical temporary power systems. The HPUs also operate quietly, making them particularly well suited to film and television environments where background noise must be kept to a minimum.
Fuel consumption accounts for between 34% and 65% of a film production’s carbon footprint, making temporary power one of the industry’s biggest opportunities to reduce emissions.
However, carbon is only part of the story.
Traditional diesel generators also produce nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) and particulate matter, pollutants that affect local air quality and the health of the crews, contractors, and performers working around them every day.
By replacing diesel generators with hydrogen fuel cell technology, the production eliminated these harmful exhaust emissions at the point of use while continuing to provide the dependable power needed to support filming.
The only by-products from the fuel cells are water and usable heat.
For productions operating in enclosed studios, urban environments or locations where hundreds of people work in close proximity to temporary power systems, cleaner air is just as important as lower carbon emissions.
The deployment extended beyond replacing diesel generators.
GeoPura’s HPUs also powered rapid EV chargers used to charge the fleet of electric vehicles transporting cast and crew around the production.
This enabled the production to combine hydrogen power with electric transport, reducing emissions across multiple aspects of filming while demonstrating how hydrogen can support wider electrification where permanent grid connections are unavailable or constrained.
Rather than waiting for costly grid upgrades, productions can deploy reliable temporary power wherever it is needed.
The Masters of the Universe project builds on GeoPura’s growing portfolio within the film and television industry.
GeoPura’s Hydrogen Power Units have already powered productions for Amazon MGM Studios, the BBC, Disney and Universal Studios, as well as supporting live television broadcasts and outside broadcast operations where uninterrupted power is essential.
From production bases and studio facilities to live broadcasts and EV charging, GeoPura is helping the industry replace diesel with hydrogen while delivering the reliable, mission-critical power that major productions depend on.
As demand for cleaner production grows, hydrogen is becoming an established part of the industry’s energy mix, providing production teams with the dependable power they expect while helping them meet increasingly ambitious sustainability targets.
GeoPura provides far more than Hydrogen Power Units.
The company produces green hydrogen, transports it through one of the UK’s largest hydrogen logistics networks, provides on-site storage and refuelling, and remotely monitors and operates every HPU throughout its deployment.
For larger or long-term productions, hydrogen can also be supplied from regional production hubs or produced closer to demand, reducing transport requirements while strengthening energy resilience.
This end-to-end capability enables production companies to replace diesel without changing how they plan or operate temporary power.
The latest Masters of the Universe production further demonstrates that hydrogen has become a proven solution for large-scale temporary power.
By replacing diesel generators with GeoPura’s Hydrogen Power Units, powered by Ballard fuel cells, Amazon MGM Studios delivered the reliable electricity needed for a major international production while reducing carbon emissions, improving local air quality and supporting wider electrification across the site.
As more studios and production companies look to reduce their environmental impact, hydrogen is already helping power the next generation of film and television production.
Amazon MGM Studios has shared the full story, including behind-the-scenes interviews with the production team, Neptune Sustainability and GeoPura’s Chief Business Development Officer, Alistar Gemmell, together with footage from the hydrogen-powered basecamp. Read the original article.
To learn more about GeoPura’s hydrogen power solutions for film and television, explore our Film & TV, Hydrogen Power Units and Green Hydrogen Supply pages, or get in touch with our team to discuss your next production.