Power on Standby

Rajesh R,
Vice President,
Power Solutions Business,
Ashok Leyland.

The grid-connected power condition in the country is improving every year.  Diesel Gensets, once the most sought after stand by power equipment, may have to change its character in the new scenario. However,  Rajesh R, Vice President, Power Solutions Business,  Ashok Leyland, feels that the gensets market will continue to grow in the near future.

How was the demand for Diesel Gensets in the last year?

Sustained economic growth is continually driving the power demand in India, and the FY19 has been a good year for Diesel Gensets. The overall market size valued at USD 1 Billion in 2019, India's rank jumped to 24 in 2018 from 137 in 2014 on World Bank's Ease of doing business - "Getting Electricity" ranking. Despite the power deficit reduced to 0.7 per cent in FY18 from 4.2 per cent in FY14, the growing power demand in Infrastructure (Roads, Metro Rail, Railways) and Commercial (IT/ITES, Data Centers, Hotels, Malls, Hospitals, Educational Institutions) sectors aided Diesel Gensets growth with an aggressive shift towards Medium & High kVA range.

While energy consumption in India is rising, it is moving away from conventional power and fossil fuels. What are the hurdles you see for Gensets in India?

Govt initiatives on non-fossil energy sources for the green environment have been aggressive, harnessed by National Solar Mission, TRAI recommendations to reduce carbon footprint and NITI recommends phase-out of Diesel powered Gensets in NCR. These initiatives are expected to progressively create a scale for large-sized UPS as an alternate for Diesel Gensets. Alternately, Solar cells as reasonable substitutes. While there are many influencing factors on power bank installation with respect to operational and packaging requirements of customers, Gas based Gensets & Hybrid solutions are expected to have a significant market place especially in the context of emission shift to stringent CPCB IV+ norms.

Sourcing raw materials are highlighted as a challenge? Could you elaborate?

It is never a concern for Company as well as our OEAs, and we view it as an opportunity to respond quickly on customer requirements over the competition. As part of Company's & our Genset Assembler's Vendor development/management and Supply chain strategy, we always ensure that the material feed & QCD levels are not affected at any point in time irrespective of market dynamics.

List the five significant challenges faced by gensets manufacturers?

• Skill manpower availability & retention
• Limited & Restricted Genset financing to customers
• Expectations on the low initial price by customers
• Cost effective Genset logistics to customers

Energy Efficiency is the new norm, could you highlight the features that are part of your product in this regard?

Leypower Genset powered with Ashok Leyland engines has been the customers' choice for reliable power and better TCO (total cost of ownership). The company's rugged engines are aesthetically designed to deliver continuous, uninterrupted power with low maintenance, low oil and fuel consumption. Its modular design and compact packing offer the unmatched level of customisation, lower noise & vibration meeting the latest emission norms and are future emission ready. Ashok Leyland's CPCB II compliant engines with electronic governing options for power generation segment offer Best-in-class performance. The company is a pioneer of electronic governing engines in the lower power ratings as well. The company is also delivering a value package of alternators for DG's.

Our innovation on Leypower Genset includes Rust free weldless & eco-friendly precoated canopy, one of the first in the industry, comes with five-year warranty on acoustic.

To address the complete spectrum of customer requirements, the Leypower range covers the 5-2250kVA range. The company's offering includes customised solutions designed for continuous power duty cycle and a standard engine platform from 15- 160kVA.

Gensets was the mainstay for regions where no grid power was available. Now that off-grid renewable energy has been penetrating, what kind of competition does that pose?

While the grid power availability has improved and the Transmission & Distribution losses have been in reduction trend over the years, various Govt initiatives are in progress to improve on power quality & reliability, expand the reach in urban and villages, as well as to minimise the Transmission & Distribution losses across regions. With the said ongoing initiatives & in the backdrop of increasing power requirements in a growing economy, Gensets will continue to be a vital power source either as a prime source or as standby.

What is your take on gensets markets in India for the next three years?

The ongoing measures in improved grid power availability are driving the shift of gensets from prime to standby power requirements and Govt measures on infrastructure & smart cities development expect an overall growth for diesel/gas gensets in coming years. Impending CPCB IV+ emission norms by FY22 is expected to have market challenges on higher investment cost for customers. This may create a diversified approach & aggressive shift towards rental business model in the Genset market &“Power on lease” basis.

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