Aksa makes moves for Europe’s rental market

Turkish genset manufacturer Aksa is targeting the European rental market with the launch of a new range of generators in the 22 to 550 kW range using Perkins and Cummins engines.

The company has previously sold permanent standby gensets in Europe but is now targeting the rental market with sets designed for rental applications and using Stage IIIA engines, predominantly Perkins.

Aksa is one of the biggest genset manufacturers in the world, producing around 40,000 units last year from factories in Turkey, China and in Los Angeles, USA. Until now its focus in Europe has been on the permanent, standby genset market.

Guy Gibson, business development manager at Aksa Power International (UK), Aksa’s wholly owned UK subsidiary, told IRN; “We have been selling standby gensets in Europe; that was our business model. We’ve done well, but to push us a bit further we have recruited people to expand our presence [in rental].” Mr Gibson spoke to IRN at the recent Executive Hire Show in the UK, at which Aksa was exhibiting for the first time.

The new range is based on sets launched in Australia and New Zealand a few years ago and feature rental features such as bunded-base, 24 hour fuel tanks; balanced lift points; the ability to stack multiple units; and the use of industry accepted Deep Sea controllers.

Mr Gibson said that Aksa had a track record of succeeding in export markets, as well as its home market, where he said it enjoyed a market share in the 50-60% range.

The company is now looking for dealers to target the rental sector in Europe, and already has a number in the UK, including Genny Hire in Aberdeen and Woodlands Generators in Evesham.

Mr Gibson added that the US facility in Los Angeles was now developing a rental-specification range of gensets using John Deere Tier 4 engines.

He said Aksa was monitoring the rise of hybrid gensets, but that its current development focus was on dual fuel gensets, using diesel and synthetic recycled fuel.

In addition to producing generators, Aksa is also a big player in Turkey’s power generation market, generating power from natural gas, oil, coal and wind farms.