When you're in the market for a temporary power supply, there are usually several possible solutions.  However, all solutions have their own strengths and weaknesses. 

Selecting the wrong temporary power plant set-up can lead to unexpected costs, additional possible safety risks and even legal challenges.

Understand the 5 challenges for temporary power plants, helps you to select the right set-up to fits your needs.  Download the free guide now.

Whether you have an emergency, require additional power during an overhaul, or need to cover a peak in your production... a temporary power plant gives you the energy you need to keep your business going. Whatever the nature or location of your operations, your power plant should be perfectly tailored to your needs: giving you the power output you require, taking into account any fluctuations in demand, local fuel supply, available footprint, and other potential logistical challenges including site access. Naturally, it also needs to comply with all legal regulations applicable at your sites like emissions and safety. And ideally, it should offer you an efficient and cost-effective solution. And while in the past, that typically meant an oversized diesel power module dimensioned according to your maximum load, recent years have seen the arrival of more modular power stations that adapt more dynamically to fluctuating power demands. At the same time, massive strides forward in battery technology have enabled the next giant leap: paving the way for even higher levels of optimization in the form of hybrid power stations equipped with energy storage modules.

Until recently, temporary power stations consisted of a single diesel power module dimensioned according to the maximum predicted load, in order to guarantee a reliable source of power at all times. The problem with this solution, however, is what happens during periods of low(er) demand. While the power output of most diesel power modules can be lowered, doing so implies a significant loss of efficiency, with very little savings in terms of fuel or emissions. When your power demand fluctuates, the solution is to go hybrid! By adding an energy storage module to the package, the diesel generator can continue to run at maximum efficiency. In much the same way as a hybrid car, the energy storage module stores any excess energy and offers an extra source of sustainable power once charged.

Fluctuating diesel prices make it impossible to predict the total cost of usership for any modular power plant. Moreover, unexpected cost increases during the course of a project can cause anxiety at best and, at worst, threaten the profitability of your operations. A hybrid power plant transforms any inefficiencies into stored energy. Which means your overall fuel consumption will be lower and your total cost of usership, less dependent on fuel prices.

Whether you want to actively lower your ecological footprint or face more stringent regulatory restrictions working in an urban environment, it’s becoming increasingly important to optimize diesel-driven solutions in order to lower the impact on our environment. As hybrid power plants optimize any inefficiencies caused by fluctuating power demands, they also lower both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Working sites are quite often difficult to access, either because they are remote, expensive to reach (e.g. offshore), or highly secured, resulting in time-consuming administration. Add to that the fact that all power stations require regular maintenance and refueling, and the benefits of a hybrid system become Immediately clear. Hybrid power stations require drastically fewer onsite interactions, which means fewer logistic flows, lower security risks, and greater reliability and cost-efficiency.

As well as regulated emissions limits, operating in or near residential areas, nature reserves, parks or other areas is often subject to equally strict noise regulations. Hybrid power stations let you drastically decrease noise levels, by optimizing the intervals at which you recuperate energy from the energy storage module. Since they are virtually silent in operation compared with diesel-driven power modules, energy storage modules offer an effective means of safeguarding uptime even, for example, at night.