The international generator industry continues to grow and, in recent years, has been characterised by a significant increase in manufacturers, distributors and middlemen, says energy generation company Himoinsa sub-Saharan Africa sales manager Juan Ignacio Perona.

He has noticed significant demand for generators coming from countries with high development levels, owing to their energy dependence. “Further, emerging countries with important yearly growth rates show a significant need to use generator sets (gensets),” adds Perona.

In recent years, the genset market has experienced growth of 5% a year, which has continued despite the downturn in world trade during 2009.

The main reason for the increase in demand is increased electricity con- sumption, which, in turn, results in increased electricity demand in a country. “Gensets are one of the solutions that can help to satisfy this energy need,” says Perona.

Gensets provide a quick energy supply in places where the utility energy supply is not stable. Such instability has fuelled the use of generators and has increased their use as a continuous energy supply source.

Telecoms Demand

There is higher demand for high-power gensets because the average energy consumption is increasing; however, there has also been an increase in the use of gensets in the telecommunications industry. This has resulted in the design and production of a specific genset for this sector that is characterised by reduced operational expenses, and the technology is being adapted to antenna sites.
In the telecommunications sector, a large number of gensets have to be used to guarantee the energy supply to the antenna sites. These kinds of gensets are also in high demand within data centres to avoid the loss of data in case of an interruption in the energy supply.

Further, the rental sector demand is significant, although it is presently less extended owing to the recession in the construction sector.

Himoinsa adds there is also a significant requirement for remote control gensets. “In the busy and fast-paced business market, gensets need to be adapted and integrated into existing control systems, such as building management systems. In these applications, control panels and controllers need to be adapted to different communication protocols,” Perona explains.

Ecofriendly

Meanwhile, the main challenge facing the genset industry is to offer products that are more efficient and ecofriendly. “Industry needs to start designing and manufacturing gensets that comply with gas and noise reduction regulations, while simultaneously providing energy solutions with a quality before- and after-sales service,” he says.

Perona is optimistic that the industry will continue to grow in future, as global energy consumption figures are expected to increase from the current yearly consumption of 6 000-million-ton equivalent of petroleum (Mtep) to more than 10 000 Mtep by 2025, owing to the continuous increase in demand for energy and the ability to create energy in-house more reliably and extensively with gensets.