On-site generators, air compressors and light towers are a critical component of the works on any construction or industrial site, providing a lifeline of power and operational support to projects that ensures the lights stay on and pneumatic tools green to go.
In the Gulf’s harsh climate, the project demands in often remote location place the dependability of generators and air compressors at a premium — and the result is an arms race between the top OEMs to provide the most durable, efficient and easy-to-maintain products on the market.
Franklin Joseph, electrical project manager at Al Shafar General Contracting, told sister title Construction Week that demand for temporary power in the GCC expanded in 2015 off the back of large-scale construction projects under progress, and that he anticipates demand for portable power services to see steady growth this year.
He noted: “Due to the nature of these projects and the harsh weather conditions in the GCC region, reliability has become a key factor in the design and installation of portable power solutions. Reliable portable power ensures no man-hours are lost and better project progress.
As further trends, he added: “Improved efficiency, lower emissions, and lower running costs will be key features in the selection of portable power systems, and since most of the new projects are large-scale, synchronised generator sets have become increasingly popular compared to traditional systems. The general trend is towards solutions that are energy efficient and have low running costs.”
Producing temporary power at the upper end of this trajectory and precisely the manner described by Joseph is Atlas Copco, with its QEC and QAC containerised generators for rental and prime power application. Both produce 1MW within the same enclosure, but the QAC is considered the more sophisticated model — producing less noise, with a lower fuel consumption and a lower overall total cost of ownership. The QEC is more traditional, while the QAC is more popular for the rental business or IPP business.
Daniel Escuer, product manager at Atlas Copco Portable Energy, notes: “What is so special with these two models, is the compactness: they are 1MW prime power at 50Hz, switchable to 60Hz, in a standard 20-foot container, which is unusual, and what is unique is that you can keep the performance with no de-rating at up to 40°C.
“The investment that we made into this unit was from the rental perspective, with a view to serviceability — so this machine is designed to be operated and serviced in a fast and safe way.”
The QAC 1250 was introduced in early 2001, and renewed with a second edition from 2011, while the QEC was introduced in 2014 — designed to lower the cost in terms of CAPEX equipping fewer features at a low price point.
Escuer notes: “If you want go to 10MW or even 100MW we have what we call a modular concept: a plug and play parallel system that is included in both variants, which is our QC4000 control that allows you to put load-sharing in multiple machines in a very quick way. They have all the control systems and breakers, so you just plug in one cable on each side and then you have 2MW.”
Equally innovative it Atlas Copco’s QAC 1100 twin power, which also delivers 1MW, but instead of having a single engine, has two engines, each capable of producing 5kvA. Escuer explains: “It is quite an interesting product that is already on the market, but we are probably the first international player to launch it in a standardised way. The idea is to provide more flexibility, redundancy and a lower CAPEX, in three sizes, providing from 700kW to 1MW at 50Hz.”
Lighting the way
Atlas Copco also unveiled large portable generators and light towers at the last Middle East Electricity exhibition in Dubai, including the QEP range of air-cooled, portable gensets available in both petrol and diesel versions in 3-14 kVA power ratings, and the QIP range of air-cooled, portable generators for industrial applications. The Atlas Copco Gesan Line generators are available with both petrol and diesel engines in 4-14 kVA power ratings. The QIP delivers predictable standby power for a wide range of industrial applications.
However, the show stealers were Atlas Copco’s new QLB 60 light towers, each with four 350W LED lights deliver bright and efficient light while significantly reducing energy and operational costs. The QLB 60 can be easily transported thanks to the smallest footprint on the market.
Sergio Salvador, product manager for light towers at Atlas Copco, notes: “This is probably the most competitive and the most attractive range of LED light towers in the market, and the competition doesn’t have it.
“In a very compact footprint and with an SPH3 frame to prevent any spill, we also have the polyethylene hardhat canopy to prevent any rust or corrosion and we have a vertical mast to improve the footprint and improve the safety, by minimising the risk of any mask fall down during the installation.”
The footprint of the units is such that up to 20 units can be loaded on a 53-foot truck, or up to 16 in a standard 40-foot container.
Salvador adds: “Before we used to have a typical 6kW machine, with 4,000W of metal halide, a metal sheet canopy and horizontal mast. This is still a very good product and we still have it in our portfolio, but with the LED we lower the fuel consumption by 60%, and we prolong the run time to 150 hours — three days more, and then we have increased the durability of the machines, because these LEDs provide 30,000 hours of light without breakdowns.”
Atlas Copco’s polyethylene hardhats bridge its range from the light towers to the portable air compressors like the XAS 97.
The special frame also eliminates the need to repaint the units (a task that might usually return every one or two years), and increases their lifespans and resale values.
In a stunt at Middle East Electricity, visitors were invited to use a sledgehammer on the frames, but in testament to their durability, nobody managed to make a dent.
Spanish maestros
Breaking new ground in a wholly different capacity is Himoinsa, which has launched the HYW-35 T5 generator capable of running for an incredible 1,000 hours maintenance-free, with upgraded filters and a 1,000-litre fuel tank.
It is innovations such as this that have won the manufacturer rapid growth in the region, and it sold 1,000 generators into Saudi Arabia in just an 18 month period ending Q3 2015 — which was 7% of the market share and 33% of the brand’s entire sales in the Middle East.
“One of the reasons why we are the fastest growing genset maker is because we are a vertically integrated — so we can adjust the product to the market and end customer,” says Guillermo Elum, the sales and marketing director for Himoinsa Middle East.
“It is not that we are making tailored gensets; it means that here we are working with extreme weather conditions and we have the product for this market.”
The HYW-35 T5 launched introduced in Dubai beast the 1,000-hour mark with innovations that include a valve that automatically replenishes the system’s oil.
Himoinsa has also unveiled models from its HYW industrial and HRYW rental ranges, featuring gensets from 8kVA to 65kVA, and both also improving autonomy by reducing refuelling frequency, and increasing the maintenance intervals.
“There is capital expenditure and operational expenditure, and we reduce the operational costs of all our customers — we save for them,”Elum adds says.
Himoinsa supplied 40 such gensets for the Haramain railway project between Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia, as well as Doha Festival City in Qatar, where five 1.7MW gensets have been installed by Byrne Rental.
Himoinsa’s new HRGP line of LPG-powered generators have meanwhile been designed with rental applications in mind, and can run for 24 hours on one tank of gas. Critically for the rental model, the HRGP ranger, from 25kVA to 60kVA of power, lower fuel costs and maintenance compared to diesel generators.
“Upon request we can produce a hybrid solution working with a variable speed engine, or combine generator modules with solar panels or wind turbines, and provide either gas or diesel engines,” Elum adds.
“We are living in a global economic situation that is not the best, but last year we grew our revenue by more than 60%, and in the Middle East, we are also growing with Al-Futtaim, our partner, in the Emirates. We are also growing in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and we are expecting the same for 2016.”
