Surging Demand: Summer Brings Business Power Needs Into Focus

The need for businesses to consider power resilience strategies such as standby power has been highlighted with the release of an industry report that forecasts supply issues in major populated areas during the upcoming summer months.

The recent report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has called on urgent investment to ensure reliability of the National Energy Market (NEM) as demand for businesses and households continues to increase.

It is during the power-intensive summer months that the network can be overloaded with demand, with blackouts an increasingly common occurrence in densely populated areas such as greater Melbourne.

Many large-scale businesses and essential services have standby generators in place to maintain power supply, switching over from mains power supply when an outage occurs.

Isuzu Power Solutions (IPS) Sales Manager, Troy Lawson, said the AEMO report highlights a further need for power resilience to ensure operations can continue without interruption—particularly for those who may not have a backup power plan such as smaller businesses and trade services.

“In the past, we have found inquiries regarding standby power options such as generator sets spike following storms, floods, and bushfire season, especially during recovery periods,” said Mr Lawson.

“Unfortunately, the AEMO report predicts that power outages will occur outside of these events during our normal Australian summer weather patterns.

“Inquiries about generator sets to Isuzu dealers have been increasing nation-wide,” he continued.

“Smaller businesses are fully aware that having the power cut, even for a small amount of time, can be costly in loss of stock and productivity.

“With the release of the AEMO report, we anticipate many small businesses will turn that inquiry into a serious purchase consideration.

“Indeed, due to the amount of inquiry already this year, IPS has increased production of generator sets so that we can get them to customers quickly before the summer season arrives.”

Isuzu’s diesel-engine generator sets are ideal as a backup power option and are designed with a compact footprint for easy installation and usage.

They are available in three sizes: a smaller 20kVA unit well-suited to small businesses and mobile applications such as trade services and 37kVA and 50 kVA units for businesses with heavier load requirements such as refrigeration.

Each generator set can be directly connected to the main power supply, plus has a series of single and three phase power outlets depending on the size of the unit and come protected with a Residual Current Device as standard, ensuring they are ready to work.

All-weather canopies constructed from thick gauge steel with a powder coated finish for heavy-duty and long-life operation guarantees performance, regardless of any external environmental conditions.

Importantly for businesses situated in populated districts or working on-site in residential areas, Isuzu generator sets feature ultra-quiet technology, which is achieved by redirecting both incoming and outgoing air through a series of sound attenuated baffles.

Rated at 51 decibels at seven metres, the smallest 20 kVA unit operates at a sound level quieter than the average conversation.

The generator sets can also be configured with a 4G online cloud-based monitoring and control system, meaning owners could access and control the unit via a device remotely without needing to travel to the business premises.

Mr Lawson said those looking to add a generator to their standby power strategy could find detailed information and view options in person at Isuzu dealerships across the country.

“All customers can expect the same reliability of product, and excellence in service and customer care experienced by Isuzu Trucks customers, with support from their local dealership to ensure the correct generator set is specified for each business need.

“Our products are further backed with a two-year warranty plus full engineering support from our expert IPS team.”