Generating New Business

BY IAN CAMERON

JCB has made its first major move into the gaseous-fueled generator sector in a deal worth approximately US$13 million.

The company’s Power Products division, based in Hixon, Stafford, England, announced it will supply 34.5 MW of gaseous-fueled gen-sets to alternative electricity generating company AGR Group in the largest deal of its kind for JCB.

The generators will be installed across five sites in England and will include 2.5 and 2 MW generators supplied as both open and containerized models at 11 kV and 6.6kV sites. The gen-sets are based on MTU 4000 Series engines.

The AGR Group specialises in sustainable, low carbon energy generation for communities and businesses and since 2011 has delivered projects across the UK. With experience in solar and wind power, the company has diversified into complementary power supply, using gaseous-fueled generators.

The generators are expected to run for up to 1500 hours a year to support the UK’s electricity supply and will be operational by the end of this year.

“This agreement signals an exciting new market opportunity for JCB and the company is working to further develop its product line and service offering in the UK’s alternative power generation market,” said JCB Power Products managing director Jonathan Garnham. “JCB Power Products continues to deliver an expanding range of power generation solutions, to ensure that customers in all markets can benefit from reliable power supplies.”

Engineering procurement and construction works to prepare and install the generators onsite are being carried out by APE – Applied Power Engineering, a JCB Power Products dealer. In addition to the supply of the generators, JCB has won a long-term maintenance agreement to service and maintain all five sites. Each generator will be installed with remote monitoring to enable constant generator surveillance.