Gensets: Driven by Demand
Increased activities in infrastructure development coupled with the demand-supply imbalance in power have pushed the demand for gensets. In this era of increased activities, emission is a major factor to confront with. While major players are upgrading their technologies with respect to the current demand, small players are yet to catch up the momentum.   

Studies show that at present 250,000 diesel powered gensets are being produced every year. In India, with the entry of more international players, the competition among the producers has increased. While the foreign players in India are providing the quality that matches the US and EU norms, the bigger Indian players are updating their own technology to stay in the competition. The smaller players are yet to catch up the momentum in this direction.

The players are focusing on the overall efficiency of the genset in terms of start, fuel efficiency, fuel gauge option, oil alert system, circuit breaker, noise and air regulation. With the emission norms are strict in these days due to global warming, the manufacturers are more conscious about providing environment-friendly products with minimum emissions. Occasionally, ?super silent gensets? and gensets running on alternate fuels are required to comply with the latest emission norms. Gensets running on alternate fuels offer opportunity to users to get carbon credits.

Mahindra Navistar Engines (MNEL), a joint venture between Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Navistar Inc USA, is introducing the most awaited 4 cylinder engine to Indian market for various genset and construction equipment. This engine is capable of producing 100 to 170 hp and is available with mechanical fuel injection system as well as generation three common rail fuel injection system for higher power output. ?We are also introducing 4 cylinder engine for 125 kVA genset application with best in class fuel economy,? informs Pankaj Sonalkar, Managing Director, MNEL.

Current status
The genset manufacturing companies in India are largely unorganised except few medium and large companies in the organised category. As the diesel engines are one of the major contributors to emissions, it is imperative to minimise the emission and strictly follow the emission norms. However, the larger chunk of the unorgaised small manufacturers is not that serious about the emission standards. Thus, while every other sector has been moving towards reducing emissions caused by engines, the genset industry has been largely inactive. This is a major cause for concern. The organised big and medium manufacturers produce gensets that are capable of meeting or exceeding the existing and proposed norms while some others await the government?s nod before taking steps in this direction.

Cleaner engines also increase the price and few players concern that they will then lose their competitive edge and be priced beyond market demands. However, there are currently diesel engines manufactured in India, which not only meet the proposed norms, but exceed them in certain cases.Cooper Corporation and Volvo Penta have introduced such low emission diesel engines for genset applications. Competitive pricing and market share have not influenced these companies nor detracted from the fact that the larger picture is the environment and not the company?s profitability. The unorganised sector neither has the resources nor the technology to develop such engines. The government should take proactive steps and make such technology available to such companies that are more than willing to produce green diesel engines but do not have the technology. This will promote a healthy competition in the sector. The government should also provide incentives to companies that comply with these norms as an impetus for other companies to follow the example of those that have taken positive steps to reduce emissions.

New fuel sources

New and innovative fuel sources are currently being developed in an attempt to find alternative energy sources to replace conventional fossil fuels. Though it is not evident in India, in the US and Europe, various companies are testing upon the use of alternative fuel sources like biodiesel. The effort is focused on finding a viable fuel source and ultimately produce the next major source of energy. Current national energy demands are exponentially increasing as we progress into the digital age and as the population increases. Consequently, the worldwide supply of fossil fuels is diminishing as a result of increased energy demands and it is anticipated that these non-renewable fuel sources will become exhausted by the end of the century. This places a great importance on developing alternative ways of producing fuel. One such method that is currently being refined is using vegetable oil found in agricultural crops as the base for developing biodiesel fuels. Biodiesel fuel was first conceptualised by the inventor of the diesel engine, Dr. Rudolf Diesel, in 1895. The abundance of oil and coal tar in the early 1900s limited the viability of biodiesel; however, with the current depletion of worldwide fossil fuel supplies, biodiesel may become a necessary source of fuel in the near future.

The major advantage of biodiesel fuel is that it is a renewable energy source and can be produced from spent oils including by products from other industries such as spent vegetable oil from restaurants. The emissions from biodiesel engines are also significantly less polluting than standard diesel fuel as they contain little to no sulphur or carcinogenic benzene. Another advantage to using biodiesel fuel is that the lubricity is much higher than standard diesel fuel reducing the wear and tear on engines ultimately leading to longer engine life.

Diesel generators used to provide essential stand-by power (for facilities such as hospitals, datacenters, etc) during times of power outage would greatly benefit from using a less polluting fuel like biodiesel. These facilities are primarily in residential neighborhoods where pollution is unwanted. However, for gensets running on alternate fuels, fuel cost efficiency versus high speed diesel, and uninterrupted availability of quality alternate fuels may be an issue for users.

Demand for gensets

In India, gensets have a bigger role to play. Driven by the growing demand from infrastructure and reality sectors, the average power output of gensets is increasing year by year. The government has big investment plans for the physical infrastructure in the 12th Five-Year Plan. The Planning Commission envisions doubling the investment in infrastructure sectors to $1 trillion (about Rs 45,00,000 crore) during the 12th Plan. In the forthcoming 12th Plan, the Commission is eyeing 1,00,000 MW of additional power generation capacity. The government plans to invest Rs 2.64 lakh crore on road projects. The Indian port sector is going through a major transformation with the Government of India planning to spend around Rs 2.7 trillion ($60 billion) in the current decade, mainly on development and expansion of ports. All these lead to a promising opportunity for the construction industry where gensets have their own roles to play.

According to IDEMA, though generation capacity grew to 159 GW and energy generation was 746 B kWh in FY10, energy deficit was 10.1 per cent and peak deficit was 13 per cent. Thus there is demand driven by power deficit, power reliability and quality of power. Going forward, power deficit may reduce but reliability and quality of power will take time to improve.

The demand supply gap in power in the recent days has pushed up the use of gensets, especially in construction sites and many industrial operations. Overall, the future is bright for gensets. But, at the same time, the emission norms are becoming stringent which affects the generator industry more. So, it is imperative to updating the technology and bringing in energy efficient and environment friendly parts and original equipment for gensets.

The emissions from biodiesel engines are also significantly less polluting than standard diesel fuel as they contain little to no sulphur or carcinogenic benzene.

There is demand driven by power deficit, power reliability and quality of power. Going forward, power deficit may reduce but reliability and quality of power will take time to improve.