genset

Africa will be reliant on back up generators for the foreseeable future, according to the African branch of global power company Eaton.

The need for back up power will continue as long as there are power shortages and blackouts on the continent, Shane Kilfoil, Managing Director of Eaton Africa, told ESPL.

He spoke as Eaton expanded its distribution network in a new partnership with South African Diesel Electric Services.

The partnership with DES will cover South Africa, and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Botswana and the Ivory Coast, said Shane Kilfoil, Managing Director of Eaton Africa.

Eaton, which has had a presence in the African market since 1927, is looking to partner with full service providers. It currently has more than 80 distributors across the continent.

Kilfoil said it would be a long time until we get to the stage where Africa can be completely unreliant of backup generators.

He added: “There is a severe power shortage in Africa, and blackouts are common. So most African countries are very familiar with diesel generators and generators in general.”

Genset manufacturer Himoinsa has secured a contract to supply diesel generator sets to provide standby power for trains in Saudi Arabia.

The Spanish firm has already delivered and installed 29 gensets to the high-speed train-line between Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

The manufacturer is still set to deliver another nine generator sets to the Spanish infrastructure company Cobra - one of 12 companies responsible for implementing the Saudi high-speed trains - by late 2016.

Himoinsa has delivered five different types of 60Hz, three-phase, 480V diesel generator sets, with the ability to deliver standby power ranging from 152 – 407 kW, equipped with Iveco or MTU engines.

Spanish genset manufacturer Himoinsa has developed a medium voltage standby project for use at one of the Faroe Islands’ power plants.

The Faroese utility company SEV has installed two Himoinsa HMW-3030 T5 6.6kV generator sets, connected in parallel at its thermal power plant in Sund, about 10km outside the capital Thorshavn.

The gensets deliver an output of 3000 kVA at 6.6 kV of voltage.

Equipped with MTU engines the gensets are ready to kick in within12 seconds in the event of power interruption, and due to its proximity to the sea the project has been fitted with a seawater cooling system.

According to he U.S. Energy Information Administration – Independent Statistics & Analysis, the average power consumption on the 18 Faroe Islands is 240,000 MWh with available power generated reaching 260,000 MWh.

Italian genset manufacturer Pramac has renewed its contract with Qatar Motor and Motorocycle Federation (QMMF) to supply power generators  to the MotoGP championship.

The company has supplied 44 diesel generators capable of generating 330kVA each, powered by Volvo Penta engines. Combined the generators will provide around 11MW of power to the 3600 light fixtures around the circuit.

UK rental firm A-Plant has boosted its fleet of power generation equipment by placing orders worth almost £2m ($3.3m) for gensets manufactured by SDMO and Cummins.

The SDMO order totals 158 diesel gensets, comprising 10kVA, 15kVA, 20kVA, 30kVA, 45kVA and 60kVA models and the investment is in the region of £1.4m.

Within the order are 36 of SDMO’s brand new Diesel 10000 E Silence gensets, the first from the production line and the first to be delivered into the UK from SDMO’s manufacturing plant in Brest, France.

The Diesel 10000 E Silence is a 10kVA portable genset, supplying portable power for use on construction sites, at events and for sectors such as the rail industry. Powered by a Kohler air-cooled industrial engine, it has a soundproof enclosure which ensures ultra-low noise during operation. It has acoustic pressure level of 81dB(A) at 1m and 69dB(A) at 7m and is also fully bunded.

A-Plant has also placed an order totalling almost £450,000 with Cummins for 27 gensets, the bulk of which are for the new Cummins 100kVA unit, the C100D2R.

This latest addition to A-Plant’s rental fleet is ideal for use at construction sites, events, telecommunications and industrial applications and provides a prime rating of 100kVA at 50Hz with a ultra-low noise rating of 66.7dB(A) at seven metres.