Pele unveils first artificial pitch that uses players' energy to generate electricty in Brazilian favela

Brazilian football legend Pelé has unveiled the first football pitch to use players’ energy to produce electricity in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

The so-called King of Football visited Morro da Mineira favela in the city to launch the revolutionary artificial field, which is installed with 200 kinetic tiles to capture the energy of players’ movement and generate power.

Combined with energy from solar panels, the electricity produced by players can power the six LED floodlights so children from the neighbourhood can play safely into the evening.

The new pitch, which was refurbished by Shell, uses technology developed by British company Pavegen.

Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen founder and CEO, said he hoped it would change the way people viewed energy.

“It’s really exciting to see it installed today. It took less than a week to install,” he said.

“We’ve effectively turned this community into a real life science experiment. It’s never been done before on this scale or on a football pitch.”

Morro da Mineira, which is part of the São Carlos complex of favelas in the north of Rio, was pacified or occupied by police in 2011 and is home to more than 15,000.

Community leaders said before the pitch was redeveloped by Shell, children were left to play football on the street.

Speaking at the pitch-side, Pelé said: “I thought we were inaugurating another artificial pitch but I didn’t expect that this field could produce energy. It’s the first in the world.

“Football is Brazil’s biggest passion and the sport has gone through so much technological innovation since the last time I played.

“This new pitch shows the extraordinary things possible when science and sport come together.”

Pelé donated a signed football to the community beforeleading the countdown to the floodlights being switched on as dusk fell. The pitch features 10 rows of 20 underground kinetic tiles, which work alongside solar energy.

During the day, up to 80 per cent of the energy will be produced by solar panels while in the evening, 100 per cent will come from the underground tiles.

André Araujo, Shell chair in Brazil, said: “The pitch proves the potential and power when scientists and entrepreneurs focus their efforts to develop creative and innovative energy solutions.

“By tapping into the world’s passion and interest in football, we aim to capture the attention of youngsters around the world so they think differently about energy and the opportunity of science studies and careers.”