With the demand for power generation in all its forms around the world growing in strength Perkins’ is making sure it focuses on understanding exactly what its customers need, which puts the company in a strong position in this market sector.  Perkins’ brand in the power generation market is recognised and trusted globally, making it the perfect engine partner for gen set manufacturers.

A superb example of this is Ghaddar Machinery, a thriving Lebanese business manufacturing and supplying gensets, operating in power bands from 10 kVA to 2000 kVA, to all parts of the Middle East and North Africa.  A key customer of Perkins, Ghaddar is about to take delivery of its 20,000th Perkins engine.  A Perkins distributor since 1988, Mr Mohammed Ghaddar heads a family business that today employs 220 people. 

Mr Ghaddar said that the business philosophy of both companies is well matched.  “I believe in always being honest with customers, treating them with respect and reacting quickly to their requests,” he said.

“There is also a growing demand in the telecommunications industry for the smaller gensets, which take Perkins 400 and 1100 Series engine.  There is also the stand by power market where there is a growing demand in the Middle East for hotels and hospitals.  Ghaddar are also providing power for the reconstruction effort in Iraq with standby units and baseload and prime power units,” said Lee Wheeler Perkins account manager.

“Ghaddar are able to source from Perkins a tailor-made engine solution for basically any application.  For example they are providing four 1000 KVA gensets for the Sheraton Coral Beach hotel in Beirut and four trailer-mounted gensets for emergency power for the Saudi Electricity company.

Another highly valued and significant genset partner for Perkins is UK generator manufacturer Allam Marine. Established in 1981 the company has brought over 15,000 engines from Perkins. 

Owner of Allam Marine Assem Allam said:  “I am very happy to have Perkins as a supplier as it is vital for us to use high quality components in our generating sets.”

In India Perkins supplies engines to Jeevan Diesels, one of the leading genset OEM’s for diesel generation sets from 3kVA to 2500 kVA.  It is also a key OEM for Perkins in the electric power segment for South Asian and Asian regional countries.

Mr Wheeler said:  “We are investigating the electric power large engine market in India in partnership with Jeevan and have already identified a number of projects involving Perkins 2000 and 4000 Series engines. “

In Turkey one of Perkins key partners is Genpower.  From the provision of standby power to a large city hospital to the electrification of a desolate rural area, Perkins and Genpower are working together to provide power for thousands of people.

Originally the company built small gensets below 300 kVA but the business has continued to grow year on year and now takes Perkins 2000 and 4000 Series engines.

Izmir Hospital is one of the key projects involving Perkins and Genpower.  It is the first installation with a Perkins 4000 Series engine for Genpower.  The hospital is the biggest government hospital in Izmir and the 4000 Series powered gen set provides standby power in the event of a mains failure.

Genpower is also helping to support work on one of Turkey’s biggest highway projects for many years, which is currently underway between Ankara and Istanbul.  The project includes the creation of a number of tunnels with one, due to its length, requiring lighting and ventilation.  They are using Perkins 4012TWG2 powered gen sets for this plus emergency power.

The company is also using 30 Perkins 4008TAG1A engines for a rural electrification programme in Kurdistan to provide standby power to many small villages.  One site is operating six units parallel to the mains and synchronized and load sharing up to 6,750kVA (5.4mw) and is equipped with setup transform for mains distribution.

Six rural prime power units have also been supplied to, and are working in, Basra.  The six 4012TAG2A (1.5mw) gensets are working a minimum of eight hours a day and have already completed in excess of 3000 hours.