Power solutions: Murray Pollok reports on gensets targeted at rental

Power generation is a truly dynamic market, with growing rental markets, new technologies, expanding rental companies and fierce competition. Murray Pollok reports.

Rental companies are always looking for products developed specifically for the rental market, but that general rule seems even more important for power generation, where it is now almost essential supply dedicated rental products.

That is clear not just from the success of companies who have developed rental-friendly models – such as SDMO with its Compact Rental range – but also in the actions of a major player like Cummins Power Generation, which has seen the need to develop an entirely new range of products for the European market if it is to match its success in the North American rental sector.

The case of SDMO, the Brest, France-based manufacture owned by Kohler, is instructive, with its Rental Compact range up to 550 kVA giving it a big push in Europe’s rental market and particularly the UK, where A-Plant and Speedy have added 425 and 550 SDMO sets, respectively, to their fleets in the 2011-13 period. Last year Cramo also adding the French-built generators to its range.

Although the rental range is now complete – there is insufficient volume in larger sizes to merit the ‘Compact Rental’ treatment – the company continues to develop the products. Next on the agenda is a range of Compact Rental machines for developing markets where Stage IIIA (or in the US, Tier 4 Final) engines are not required. Look out for these products this year.

SDMO’s approach to the rental market – sales to which now represents between 6 and 7% of its total €500 million sales – has also influenced its parent company Kohler, which in 2012 took the decision to close its internal power rental company in the US and focus instead on selling generators to rental.

In fact, Kohler is now using SDMO’s distinctive rental canopy for its new range of Tier 4 Final sets, and also for some of the sets that Kohler sells to the rental sector in Asia. (SDMO has responsibility for Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mexico and South America, while Kohler’s market territory is US, Canada, South Asia, Asia Pacific and Australia/New Zealand.)

“We are quite confident of increasing the 6%...for sure we will find success with the new range for Africa and the Middle East”, says Philip Forrest, SDMO’s communication manager. France accounts for 20% of all SDMO sales, with 58% going outside Europe.

In Europe, meanwhile, the company continues to refine its rental range. Late last year it announced several modifications, including an extension of maintenance intervals in four of the range – the R66C3 to R135C3 – from 500 to 750 hours. This, says SDMO, will reduce the cost of ownership over a five year period by between 19 and 23%, depending on the model. This has been developed in cooperation with engine supplier John Deere.

In addition, SDMO says it has analysed warranty claims since the introduction of the rental range in 2011 and says these claims are steadily reducing in frequency and are now at an annual rate of below 0.4%, which compares to 0.9% in late 2010.

If the focus in recent years has been on its sub-550 kVA rental range, the company has also been finding success with last year’s launch of the containerised 1650 kVA unit, ten of which have been sold to Mexican rental company Gracida, based in Guadalajara.

The acquisition by Kohler in 2005 has seemed to work well for SDMO. Around €14 million has been invested in production facilities in the Brest area in the past five or so years – including a more than doubling in size to 40000 m2 of the massive Kergaradec II plant, where much of the assembly work is undertaken. The three facilities in Brest can product up to 60000 gensets each year, although that includes the small, sub-15 kVA portable power products made in Brest.

SDMO/Kohler also acquired a Brazilian manufacturer, Maquigeral, in late 2011, which produces sets in the 40 to 750 kVA range under the SDMO Maquigeral brand. These are 60 Hz units, which doesn’t make them well suited for the 50 Hz South American market.

Cummins Power Generation will admit to playing catch-up in Europe, which is why it has just further extended its new range of gensets targeted at the European rental market with the launch of a 100 kVA unit. This follows the introduction in early 2013 of four sets in the 150-300 kVA range.

The 100 kVA is the first of a range of smaller sets that are being built for Cummins by a sub-supplier in Europe, with 20, 40 and 60 kVA units the next to be launched. The sub-contractor has not been named, although IRN understands it is possibly an Italian producer.

Scott Strudwick, business director, global rental at Cummins Power Generation, describes the 100 kVA unit as a “major step forward…You can’t just have one or two products, you need the whole range…we are working diligently to fill out that range.”

Cummins hopes eventually to have a “seamless” line of rental sets in the 20 kVA to 1.5 MW range.

The 100 kVA unit was introduced to European distributors and customers at a series of meetings at Cummins’ manufacturing facility near Ramsgate in the UK in early December.

Features of the 100 kVA Stage IIIa unit include “robust construction and heavy-duty components”, two fuel tank sizes (200 l and 400 l), noise levels of 66.7 dB(A) at 7 m, three control options available (Cummins PowerCommand Control, DeepSea 7310, and ComAp MRS16) and the use of a maintenance-free Optima AGM battery. The DeepSea controller is only available with the 100 kVA unit for the time being.

During the showcase events, Cummins demonstrated the genset’s capacity to accept a 100% load in a single step. “It’s a pretty nasty thing to do to a generator”, says Mr Strudwick, “but it will do it if it is required.”

The extension of the rental range continues Cummin’s aim to expand its rental market sales. Currently around US$150 million of Cummins Power generation sales are generated by sales to rental companies worldwide, with Europe being the smallest region. Cummins is performing much better in North American and Middle East rental markets.

Mr Strudwick says the new European gensets are helping but that the subdued economy and tough competition are making things difficult; “When the market does turn up we will have the products ready.”

Of course, there are alternative engine technologies coming into view. Mr Strudwick says Cummins sees the attraction of hybrid gensets, incorporating battery packs, but that the first priority is the standard range. As far as heavy fuel oil (HFO) sets – of the type now being developed by Aggreko – he says Cummins will keep an eye on how demand evolves. “We see more interest in natural gas – using gas from shale gas field, mainly in North America.” He says Cummins has gas engines, but they need to be modified before migrating to the rental market; “We’re looking to work on it this coming year [2014].”

Meanwhile, Cummins is also working on its mega-genset range. It already has the 1250 kVA KTA50, using a 50 l engine, and in the first quarter of this year will have a 1000 kVA version called the KTA38, with a 38 l engine.

In the US, where Tier 4 Final generator sets are now required for engine sizes from 130 to 560 kW, Cummins has rolled out its first Tier 4 Final sets from 150 kW to 275 kW without the use of a diesel particulate filter (DPF). Cummins is using a combination of in-cylinder engine improvements, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment to meet the emission limits.

“By avoiding the need for a DPF, we were able to simplify the aftertreatment package with benefits of lower maintenance for rental operators”, says Santhosh Sorab, marketing manager for Tier4 Final Product Development at Cummins.

Himoinsa’s US business, Hipower Power Systems, has meanwhile chosen John Deere as engine supplier for its Tier 4 Final generators. The first sets, with 237 – 345 kW standby ratings, will use Deere’s PowerTech PSS 9.0L engine, featuring cooled exhaust gas recirculation, and aftertreatment technology with exhaust filter and selective catalytic reduction.

Hipower has also launched a gas powered range of generators for the US, partly in response to the high-cost of the new diesel sets and because of the increased availability of gas fields in the US, which “is leading oil companies to demand generators that can run on the gas extracted, a development that is reducing energy consumption costs and drastically curbing pollutant emissions.” The HRNG 430 genset provides both prime - in the industrial sector - and standby power up to 400 kW.

The Himoinsa subsidiary has also unveiled a bi-fuel genset, which is says reduces diesel consumption by up to 62% at times of peak demand. The set uses a blend of diesel and gas, thus reducing consumption costs and pollution levels.

Predictable power

Atlas Copco continues to push its theme of ‘predictable power’, emphasising the reliability and consistency of its products, has been developing its products for several different markets.

One initiative is the development of new versions of its 1 MW QAC genset first introduced in Europe three years ago. There are now three variants of the new QAC flx, including a 60 Hz QAC 1200 flx for North America, which has been designed for rental applications. This is a lower spec variant which customers can add features to if they want.

Designed to be customised to suit a wide variety of situations such as high altitudes or extreme weather conditions, the sets are ideal for prime power or critical standby power in the rental, mining, oil and gas, industrial and construction industries.

The other two variants are the QAC 1000 flx for Europe and the QAC 1250 flx for the international market (excluding Japan). The new models have been engineered for 500-hour service intervals, and all three come in 20 ft containers for ease of transport.

In terms of Tier 4 Final sets for North America, Julio Tome, product marketing manager generators for Atlas Copco Portable Energy, tells IRN that suppliers still have a degree of flexibility with the transition to the next engine emission stage and that Atlas Copco has not yet disclosed which engines it is going to use, although it will focus on a non-DPF (diesel particulate filter) solution.

Also important are new 365 kVA and 550 kVA sets for the Brazilian market, using Scania engines, both of which are less than 1.2 m wide. Mr Tome says it is the first time there have been 500 kVA units that can be loaded side by side on a truck.

The company now has a set of rental generators from 25 to 550 kVA for Brazil, and reports that Brazilian rental company A Geradora recently ordered 105 Atlas Copco QAS generators, comprising 50 QAS 55Pd 220V, 50 QAS 105Pd 220V and 5 QAS 140Pd units.

In Europe, meanwhile, Atlas Copco is introducing a new version of the QAS 60 with a dramatically reduced canopy size, which will appeal to rental companies, says Mr Tome.

Also adding to its genset range is Doosan Portable Power, which now has a range of sets in the 25 to 625 kVA sizes designed for North America , South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The latest sets include two new models for Europe, meeting EU Stage IIIA engine regulations, and are the 80 kVA G80-IIIA and the 100 kVA G100-IIIA. These share similar designs and characteristics to the larger G150-IIIA and G200-IIIA models launched in 2012.

Doosan says of particular interest to the rental market will be the use of an innovative fuel tank frame that offers a containment base integrated as standard in the frame to ensure 110% fluid containment capacity. The generators have a standard fuel capacity offering a minimum of 12 hours of autonomous operation (at 75% of the load), while a 24-hour onboard fuel tank configuration is available as an option.

The output performance stability of the generators is ensured by a combination of John Deere Stage IIIA engines and Leroy Somer alternators, which use the AREP excitation system, providing good motor-starting performance. Doosan says this system is “ideal for powering pumps, cranes and other applications with high start-up demands.”

BOX STORY

Morillo reinvests

Well known Spanish rental company Morillo is preparing to renew its power rental fleet having invested little since the downturn began in 2008.

Luis Morillo, technical director and a co-owner of the family company, told IRN that a lot had changed at the company since the boom years, with the focus now firmly on renting power and climate control, with much of the general construction equipment and compressor fleet sold off. Around 50-60% of its work is now in the events sector.

Speaking to IRN at a Cummins Power Generation customer day in December, at which Mr Morillo took a close look at the supplier’s new 100 kVA set, he said the aim was to completely renew the 450 unit genset fleet by 2020, with investment likely to start in 2015.

Morillo is a Cummins genset dealer in Catalonia and has >500 kVA Cummins sets in its fleet. In smaller sizes it has historically used FG Wilson, SDMO and Himoinsa, although that may change with Cummins launching its new rental sets.

“Now Spain is stabilised; it’s OK”, said Mr Morillo, “We have enough fleet to maintain our business at a level. We are the right size. If the market grows we can grow with it.” The company, which is based in Barcelona, employs 44 staff at six locations, down from 95 at the peak.

BOX STORY

Newburn grows with Bruno sets

UK rental company Newburn Power Rental has bought two 1250 kVA Bruno Whisper Box generators as part of a major capital investment programme.

Yorkshire-basedNewburn has grown dramatically since it was created in January 2012 when Progress Group purchased TM Newburn Group and combined the rental activities of the two companies.

Since then, the fleet has increased from 250 to over 600 gensets and the number of employees has doubled. The company rents sets in the 12 kVA to 1250 kVA sizes from seven depots in the UK.

The Whisper Box generators are in ISO 150 containers and have typical noise levels of 75 dB @ 1m, which makes them ideal as standby generators at hospitals, public buildings and other areas where strict sound limitations are in place.

Newburn’s first Whisper Box generator has been mounted on a 45 foot trailer, which is also equipped with cabling and a 3000 l bunded fuel tank.

Newburn hire director Kerry Moggridge, said: “This latest investment by the business is part of our 2014 investment programme which includes further substantial capital purchases and the move by Newburn Power Rental into some additional markets”.