Checklist Before Renting

Before you rent one, there are a few other things to know. One crucial factor to keep in mind is fuel capacity. How frequently will you need to refuel the set? Can a diesel tanker come to the site, or would an auxiliary day tank be needed? We have provided a checklist of requirement for you before you rent a generator:

Know your load requirement

• KVA/KW/ampere -> Power/Load requirement
  • Summation of all electrical equipment load
  • 7 days trending for existing load profile
    • Detect surges and load
• Single phase or three phase
  • 230v is single phase or 400-415v is three phase
• Voltage and frequency 
  • Typically 230v or 400-415v
  • Frequency 50/60hz usually depending on country of origin of equipment

Deployment area/location

• Access road
  • Temporary road, Premix / Bitumen road, Concrete driveway
  • Cannot access soft ground, need to lay steel plates
• Parking area
  • Type of ground? Turf / soft ground, hard standing concrete, tarmac / premix road
  • Floor loading – Check KN/m^2
• Lifting
  • If need to bring the genset high or far away
  • Space for crane outreach arms
  • Floor loading
  • >200kva
  • Lift from low load

Power usage (Temp board)

• It will be better for a single line drawing to be provided. 
• Zoom meeting? Call? Otherwise will be covered in site survey.

Noise requirements

• https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/pollution-control/noise-pollution/industrial-noise-control

Earthing requirements

• Generator neutral earth connection (Only for three-phase)
  • If you have an existing earthing pit, can connect
  • If not, required to drive new earthing rod
    • Get a Cable Detection Service 
    • Access control

Protection for passerby

• Barricades
• Signage

EMA Licensing for mobile generators

• If renting a mobile generator, engage LEW of appropriate grade to apply for a license which will be assigned to the company holding the generator
• LEW will provide single line diagram
• Monthly inspection report to EMA by LEW

Duration of daily operation

• If <12 hours, one unit is needed
• If > 12 hours, need to deploy two units to cycle the workload

Fuel top-up

• The access road for fuel tanker
• Or provide way to move a 200L diesel drum around
• Fuel storage tank, 
  • If >1500l, require approval from SCDF
  • If not, approval is needed from the owner of the premise (JTC?)

Arrange for a site survey

Verify the condition before claiming it, mover to confirm 

• site access
• feasibility of crane deployment

Identify where it will be used, then planning and trending for existing load. Following that, you must calculate the diesel consumption, fuel storage requirements, and run time at full power.

To power up an entire building for a project or event, you will need the full understanding of load profile to sustain your operational needs. This is where a professional should come in.