Formerly known as PowerGen Asia, Enlit Asia aims to foster collaboration among all key players in the ASEAN energy sector, including policymakers, regulators, technology providers, and energy consumers, while also integrating international perspectives from the United States, Europe, and Australia. This event is an ideal opportunity for Crestchic Loadbanks to engage with stakeholders from across the industry to explore the role of load testing in the ongoing energy transition in Southeast Asia.

“With energy demand surging, and a significant shift towards renewable energy sources, there is a pressing need for solutions that will ensure grid reliability and stability, as well as for testing renewable power solutions,” said Paul Brickman, Commercial Director at Crestchic Loadbanks.

Indonesia’s energy landscape is undergoing a transformation. The country accounts for approximately two-fifths of the region’s energy consumption, with energy demand expected to increase significantly. To address this demand, Indonesia is actively reducing its reliance on domestic coal and imported petroleum while increasing its use of renewable energy sources. The government has set ambitious targets to achieve 23% renewable energy use by 2025 and 31% by 2050.

Paul continues, “Load banks play a critical role in this energy transition. Crestchic’s load-testing solutions help to ensure the reliability and performance of power systems, generators, and renewable energy installations. By simulating real-world conditions, load banks enable the testing and optimisation of power infrastructure, helping to identify weaknesses, improve efficiency, and ensure grid stability.”

Crestchic Loadbanks invites visitors to the Enlit Asia event to join the team on Stand 2019 to learn more about their load-testing solutions. With sales and rental offices all over the world, the company is excited to contribute to the discussions that will shape the future of energy in Southeast Asia.

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Daryl explains the decision to persuade Isabella to join the sales team; “In her previous engineering role, Isabella was involved in all stages of the lifecycle of a load bank – from analysing technical documentation and specifications, undertaking electrical calculations of cable, power and fuse sizing and producing electrical schematics, controller coding and build instructions, through to making recommendations for product improvement and development. As such, she knows the product inside and out, and has a level of understanding that makes her a huge asset to the sales team.”

So how have the first three months in the role gone? Isabella’s first week was spent with five Indonesian customers and a London-based consultant, who wanted to witness a Crestchic 3MVA resistive reactive containerised load bank on full load, using the power from Aggreko Gensets. All went really well, and the load bank was air freighted to Jakarta 2 weeks later.

Two weeks later, Isabella was an integral part of the team hosting the Crestchic stand and meeting customers and prospects at the Middle East Energy exhibition, in Dubai. This was the true baptism of fire for Isabella! 

Daryl explains: “The show is always a busy one, so Isabella was unsure what to expect! 

As soon as the team arrived at the exhibition stand we were overwhelmed with visitors and it was all hands on deck chatting to customers. The expo was the busiest I had ever attended, with nearly 140 enquiries received on the stand. Isabella had no time for doubts and got on with the talking!”

Back in the office Isabella is quoting load banks from 100kW up to multi-MVA projects around the world and says she has never had so many emails! She is also looking forward to the Enlit exhibition, which takes place in November in Jakarta. 

Well done Isabella, it sounds like you have really hit the ground running!

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Jamie-Lee relocated from her native Glasgow to take up the role of Technical Coordinator in May 2019. A graduate engineer, Jamie-Lee completed her degree in Electrical Electronic and Energy Engineering at Glasgow Caledonian University the year prior to moving to Burton. While undertaking her studies, Jamie-Lee worked in an industrial services rental business, giving her exposure to sectors such as oil & gas, energy, power generation, environment, and construction.

As a recently qualified engineer with sector experience, Jamie-Lee was able to hit the ground running. As technical coordinator, she provided invaluable electrical expertise for rental projects, load bank fleet maintenance, and upgrades worldwide. She also supported the team with stocktaking, as well as liaising with freight forwarders for the shipping of parts and equipment worldwide. 

Her success in the role saw her promoted to the position of Technical Manager (Worldwide Rental). In her new role, Jamie-Lee will continue to provide technical support to the rental depots around the world, but will also assume management responsibility for our rental fleet maintenance and upgrades, working with rental unit directors and managers to ensure that minimum standards are adhered to and where possible exceeded. In addition, she will assume immediate responsibility for the UK-based refurb team. 

Speaking about her role, Jamie-Lee explained: “Crestchic is going from strength to strength and I’m really pleased to take on this new opportunity within the team. As well as enjoying being part of a close-knit team, I enjoy the challenges faced in this industry. Working here has given me the opportunity to get hands on with finding the correct solutions for clients or identifying and implementing improvements to our equipment.” 

As a business, Crestchic is keen to play a part in developing young engineers, working with the local college to help deliver apprenticeship programmes and offer work-experience opportunities, as well as actively recruiting and training apprentices within the business. As a local business, Crestchic also has a big focus on supporting team members to progress in their careers and on promoting from within. 

Chris Caldwell, MD at Crestchic, added “Jamie-Lee joined the team after graduating and relocated to Burton to start her career in engineering. It’s very gratifying that she is now taking her first steps in management with us and I am confident that she has lots to look forward to in the future.”

To find out more about Crestchic products, genset testing or career opportunities, get in touch with us through our contact page.

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The importance of heat load testing 

Data Centre servers exude enormous amounts of heat; making it vital that air conditioning systems can cope with the heat output of the servers. Data centre heat load testing is a process of assessing the performance and capacity of a data centre’s cooling infrastructure by using a load bank to simulate the heat generated by IT equipment.

End-to-end load bank rental

Steven Bacon, Business Development Manager at Crestchic USA, explains, “Heat load testing is a critical step in the design and commissioning of any data center. Failing to heat load test the server hall can result in inadequate cooling, which can impact the performance and reliability of the IT equipment. Higher temperatures can lead to thermal throttling, reduced processing speeds, increased error rates, and overall degradation in system performance. By using a load bank to simulate the heat output of the servers, we are able to subject the cooling systems to different heat loads to ensure they can effectively dissipate the generated heat and maintain optimal operating temperatures.”

Load-testing solutions for maximum uptime

To fulfill this need, the Crestchic team conducted a survey of the data centre site and specified a 255KW load bank. The agreed rental package included a full Risk Assessment and Method Statement, dedicated transport for delivery, as well as fully trained installers and engineers to set up the load banks, perform final electrical connections in line with local regulations, and offer customer training and support. 

Using the load banks, the customer was able to validate the capacity of the cooling infrastructure, helping to prevent overheating issues that could lead to equipment failures and service disruptions. To find out more about Crestchic’s load testing solutions for the data center sector, including heat load testing, bus bar testing, generator testing and more, please download our data centre guide. 

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Efficiency is key: During the two-day conference, there was a lot of talk about efficiency in the data center sector. Many of our customers and prospects want to do testing promptly, making rental turnaround a key driver in selecting a provider. 

Labour shortages are an ongoing issue: Many data centres do not have the right labour pool to execute daily operations, let alone testing. This means that having access to trained technicians is an important factor when selecting a solution provider. 

Heat load testing is as important as genset testing: Most facilities managers and data center operators are aware of the need to test generators to keep backup power running efficiently. Speaking to customers and prospects, it would seem that there is an increased interest in using load bank solutions to heat load test server halls at the commissioning phase. 

Backup power lead times are long: In some cases, lead times for generators are up to two years. This means that data centers must invest in backup power solutions early in the planning and commissioning phase. To avoid this, some data centers rent generators. While this is a temporary solution, rental generators are often older, making it vital that load testing is completed frequently. 

De-risking data centers is high on the agenda: From my many conversations with customers, I heard them speak about de-risking their data center. Some load banked their data centers monthly; others only did it when their generator services company scheduled it. The overwhelming sentiment was that they want to test more often and efficiently to avoid the risk of outages. 

To find out more about how Crestchic can help to address these issues, speak to our rental team here. 

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The Uptime Institute’s Annual Outages Analysis 2023 has been released and when it comes to backup power, the message is clear: “Generators are reliable, but require regular scheduled maintenance, fuel checks and testing.”

This advice comes after the Institute’s 2023 resilience survey revealed that just under a third of operators experienced a major outage at their site caused by a power problem in the last three years. This figure was similar to that in 2022, meaning little has improved in how data centres maintain their generators.

Paul Brickman, Commercial Director for Crestchic Loadbanks, comments:

“UPS failure is the single biggest cause of power outages for the data centre market, by some distance, and industry bodies like the Uptime Institute have been banging the drum for regular generator maintenance and testing for many years.

“The latest research shows that very little improvement is being made into the number of power failures happening, which means more action is required to reduce these avoidable and financially crippling outages.”

The cost of outages is increasing

Power outages are usually sudden and binary. They can be site-wide and have an immediate impact on service delivery.

According to the Uptime Institute, restoration of power can be quick, but in many instances, it can take hours to restart IT systems and fully synchronise databases. This loss of equipment can mean data centres operate outside SLAs until full replacements are installed.

A massive 40% of power outages are caused by UPS failure and, according to the 2023 analysis, they are now costing more than ever. Based on the Uptime Institute’s last global survey, a quarter of respondents said their most recent outage cost more than $1 million in direct and indirect financial losses.

A further 45% said their most recent outage cost between $100,000 and $1 million – a figure that is increasing.

Why is the cost of outages increasing?

The Uptime Institute cites a number of contributory factors, including inflation, fines, SLA breaches, the cost of labour, emergency call-out charges, and replacement parts. The biggest single reason, they say, is the growing dependency of corporate economic activity on digital services and on data centres. This is because the loss of critical IT services almost always instantly translates into disrupted business and lost revenue, which can include compensation, fines and lost business with costs running into the tens of millions of dollars.

In fact, the Uptime Institute professes to not calculating an average outage cost, because the business and outage impacts are so varied that each year a handful of outages will be so large, they distort the entire picture.

The price will continue to rise

The economy’s reliance on digital services will continue to increase, and with it a reliance on stronger SLAs could make outages even more financially crippling. Higher regulatory fines and increased compensation for customers that are affected by service disruption will further increase the impact.

Prevention is better than cure

With the cost of outages set to increase further, and evidence proving that not much headway is being made in the prevention of power supply-related outages, data centre operators should heed the Institute’s warning and uphold regular scheduled maintenance, fuel checks and testing.

Paul adds, “As the Standard bearer for Digital Infrastructure performance, the Uptime Institute has made it clear that backup generators must be well maintained and fit for purpose. To achieve this, data centres should use load banks according to some simple best practice guidelines to ensure that should an outage occur, the power remains on.”

Best practice tips for scheduled load bank testing

Test annually when using resistive-reactive load bank testing

All generators should be tested at least annually for real-world emergency conditions using a resistive-reactive 0.8pf loadbank. All gensets (where there are multiple) should be run in a synchronised state, for 8 hours. Where this isn’t possible, they should be run for a minimum of 3 hours.

Test 2-4 times per year when using resistive-only load bank testing

Where a resistive-only load bank is used, testing should be increased to 2-4 times per year at 3 hours per test. In carrying out this testing and maintenance, fuel, exhaust and cooling systems and alternator insulation resistance are effectively tested, and system issues can be uncovered in a safe, controlled manner without the cost of major failure or unplanned downtime.

Why is resistive-reactive the best approach to generator maintenance? 

Capable of testing both resistive and reactive loads, this type of load bank provides a much clearer picture of how well an entire system will withstand changes in load pattern while experiencing the level of power that would typically be encountered under real operational conditions.

Furthermore, the inductive loads used in resistive/reactive testing will show how a system will cope with a voltage drop in its regulator. This is particularly important in a university where generators will run in parallel should blackouts occur, where a problem with one generator could prevent other system generators from working properly or even failing to operate entirely. This is something which is simply not achievable with resistive-only testing.

Begin scheduled generator maintenance today

The Uptime Institute advises regular, scheduled maintenance of testing for all generators. For support implementing a schedule, or to find out more about the right load banks for your specific requirements, contact the Crestchic team today.

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Crestchic, specialist manufacturer of load banks and power load testing equipment, has fully integrated the Northbridge Transformers business. As well as rebranding the business as Crestchic Transformers, Crestchic has also invested in new European premises and additional team members, to support ongoing growth.

By combining the assets of the two businesses, customers stand to benefit from an expanded fleet of loadbanks, emulators and transformers, including auxiliary equipment, along with strengthened manufacturing and R&D capabilities. The change is part of Crestchic’s strategic plan to grow the business throughout Europe.

Wodan De Quick, General Manager at Crestchic Transformers, commented; “Crestchic has always offered step-down transformers under the Crestchic brand. By combining the former Northbridge transformers fleet with the existing Crestchic one, we’re able to offer an expanded product range, including total solution packages. The ongoing investment in premises, assets, and people will allow us to reach a wider market more efficiently.”

This investment in the transformer business is part of a wider strategic expansion programme for Crestchic, both in the EU and beyond. The business has recently made a significant investment in the UK manufacturing facilities, increasing its capacity by 60%, as well as opening new premises in the US.

Crestchic currently operates in the UK, USA, Germany, France, Benelux, UAE, Singapore, China, Ireland, and Japan. The announcement coincides with the renaming of Northbridge Industrial Services to Crestchic Plc, following the disposal of the group’s Tasman Oil business.

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The event was attended by more than 100 customers, suppliers, and senior staff, who were invited to the opening ceremony, a tour of the Crestchic site, and lunch. A ceremonial ribbon-cutting and speech were carried out by former BBC journalist and Times Radio Presenter John Pienaar, and a plaque unveiled by Councillor Philip Hudson, the Mayor of East Staffordshire.

Despite the economic pressures of the pandemic and global political events, Crestchic has seen strong growth in demand for its products. Data centre and energy transition markets are growing rapidly, and demand continues from well-established, traditional sectors, such as critical infrastructure, marine engineering, and extractive industries. The new factory will allow the company to increase manufacturing capacity to respond to the growing demand for sales and rental of load testing equipment in the UK and beyond.

Peter Harris, Executive Chairman at Crestchic, commented, “As well as responding to customer demand, the investment in both our new and existing factories is part of our commitment to continuous improvement. Our vision is to be world-class manufacturers in every sense of the word – in our commitment to innovation, design excellence, product build quality, meeting delivery times and exceeding customer expectations. We’re continuing to invest in our people and technology – bringing on board new expertise and investing in R&D to ensure that Crestchic continues to lead the market.”

Paul Brickman, Commercial Director added, “Power resilience is becoming increasingly important across all industries. Load testing is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s an absolute necessity for any modern business that needs power to operate effectively. We’re undoubtedly seeing this reflected in our order books. The factory will allow us to fulfil demand across all of our existing locations, as well as our new depots in Antwerp and Texas. As we ramp up our production, we hope to open more depots to serve our rapidly growing global market.”

The senior team also thanked everyone who had been involved in the delivery of the new building, including architects and structural engineers AJS Structural Design; project manager/quantity surveyor Amsons-Barlow; main contractors BFG; electrical contractors SCI; planning advisor JMI Planning and everyone at Crestchic who had played a part. Everyone who works across the three Crestchic manufacturing and office sites was also invited to enjoy a celebratory lunch.

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Here, we explore why this is not the case, and offer best practice advice for ensuring power resilience through regular testing of your backup generator power system.

1. The impact of onsite conditions

Factory conditions do not replicate the environment found onsite. It is, therefore, vital to consider variables such as climate, humidity and temperature differences, and how these will affect the performance of your UPS and backup power system once in-situ.

Even simple fluctuations in temperature can affect run time performance, battery capacity, cut off voltage, gassing and thermal runaway in UPS systems. Humidity and climate fluctuations can also cause longer-term performance issues including corrosion and condensation.

2. Factory conditions are rarely replicable

When tested at the factory, your backup generator will undoubtedly have been put through rigorous testing. However, even with the very best of testing, the fuel supply system, exhaust system, and cooling will differ from the system used in operational conditions. Equally, it won’t have been connected to your specific electrical system, with its own array of circuit breakers, instrumentation, and automatic changeover switches. The fact that the genset now has to operate to capacity with all these different supplying factors is reason enough to test at commissioning regardless of how recent a factory test was performed.

3. The impact of transportation and installation

At the point of factory testing, your equipment has been subjected to very little movement or human intervention. It has been constructed in a carefully controlled environment and handled with the utmost care. But by the time it reaches the point of installation, this sensitive equipment has been lifted, transported, installed, commissioned, and adjusted by human hands. Any one of these processes may throw performance off kilter. Again, the impact may not be visible straight away. For this reason, it is critical that power systems are tested in-situ, regularly and for backup power, this means using a load bank.

Testing backup power using a load bank

A load bank is used to create an electrical load that imitates the operational or ‘real’ load that a backup generator would use in normal operational conditions. In short, load banks are used to test, support, or protect a critical backup power source and ensure that it is fit for purpose in the event that it is called upon.

Ideally, all generators should be tested annually for real-world emergency conditions using a resistive-reactive 0.8pf load bank. Best practice dictates that all gensets (where there are multiple) should be run in a synchronised state, ideally for 8 hours but for a minimum of 3.

Where a reactive-only load bank is used, testing should be increased to 2-4 times per year at 3 hours per test. In carrying out this testing and maintenance, fuel, exhaust and cooling systems and alternator insulation resistance are effectively tested and system issues can be uncovered in a safe, controlled manner without the cost of major failure or unplanned downtime.

Secure power resilience for your facility

For more information on using a load bank to ensure power resilience for your facility, contact our team here.

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Battery failures

One of the most common causes of generator problems is battery failure. In short, a failed battery won’t supply the current the generator needs to start. Battery problems can be caused by sulfation build up, which occurs when the lead sulfates in the electrolyte begin to coat the battery’s lead plates. As the sulfation builds on the plates, it inhibits the electrical conversion, preventing the battery from providing the current needed to start the generator.

Dirty and loose connections are the culprit for a host of battery problems, from a build-up of lead debris in the sedimentary trays to open cells caused by overcurrent or insufficient battery capacity. Preventative maintenance is key to overcoming these issues and overcoming potential failure before it occurs. Cleaning and tightening of cable connections and monitoring the charge rates on a regular basis will help to ensure that your backup generator works as expected in the event of a power outage.

It is also worth bearing in mind that battery failure can occur when the charger breaker is open or tripped. This is usually due to human error, when the charger has been switched off for maintenance. Ensure all testing and maintenance is carried out by a skilled professional who will follow the relevant steps and procedures to fully check a generator is working properly after maintenance or repairs.

Coolant levels and overheating in generators

Low levels of coolant in the system cause overheating, leading to a whole host of other issues, from melted bearings, warped crankshafts and overheated cylinder heads through to damage to the radiator core, exhaust valves and valve guides.

Overheating can be caused by low coolant levels, which may indicate a leak somewhere in the system, commonly the block heater hoses. To prevent issues, hoses should be checked regularly for signs of wear, bulges and cracking; clamps should be tightened to reduce the likelihood of leaks; and coolant antifreeze and additives should be maintained to prevent pitting and engine damage. However, while checking the system and keeping an eye out for puddles of coolant is important, overheating can also be caused by a build-up of dirt and debris, a broken fan or fan belt, clogged injectors or air filters, or low oil levels.

The only way to accurately test a cooling system and ensure that the thermostats are fully open is to test the generator under load. Weekly running, while vital to the overall health of the system, simply won’t cause the thermostat to open enough to test the system – making load bank testing the best way to mitigate any issues.

Leaks or “wet stacking” on generators

Very often, problems that are perceived to be oil leaks are actually caused by “wet stacking”, where thick, dark liquid drips from the engine’s exhaust and turbo chargers. Wet stacking usually happens when engines operate significantly below their rated output level (recommended levels vary between manufacturers). This kind of excessive no-load run time causes a build-up of unburned fuel deposits around the combustion chamber, injector nozzles, piston rings, turbo charger and exhaust. This, combined with condensed water results in carbon particles and moisture gathering around the exhaust system.

The potential impact of wet-stacking includes reduced power, increased emissions and increased operational costs. When this happens, the engine can be cleaned up by running it at full load to burn off excess fuel, using a load bank to place a load on the system. If the generator is used below the rated output level on a regular or consistent basis, consider pairing it with a load bank more permanently to keep it running at 70-80% of rated capacity and prevent a “wet stacking” from occurring. A load tracking load bank is ideal for this application.

Emissions Issues with generators

With emissions controls becoming increasingly stringent, the use of exhaust aftertreatment systems is becoming more commonplace. These tend to require the engine to be running at an optimum load / temperature. If the generator does not have sufficient load the performance of the aftertreatment could be compromised, in this instance a load bank can be used to ensure sufficient load is provided to allow the generator to run at its optimal performance level.

Fuel issues with generators
The increased level of bio content in fuel can exacerbate stagnating fuel issues causing microbial build-up in the fuel. Ultimately, this build-up could result in the generator being unable to run when called upon. Polishing / cleaning the fuel removes harmful sediment such as water, sludge and microbial contamination through filtration and circulation

Some generators are equipped with an auto shutdown mechanism when the fuel reaches critical levels. Running out of fuel, or problems caused by fuel stagnating in the system, can be avoided by maintaining the fuel tanks and checking them for water and contaminants which can damage the system. By the same token, high fuel level alarms can be activated by natural thermal expansion of the fuel on a hot day.

Human error

Naturally, there are times when simple human error can cause the generator not to start up when needed. The most common issues relate to switches being left in the wrong position when weekly checks are made. Control switches, battery chargers, ground fault sensors and switchgear are often switched off as part of routine checks, making it important that these are checked and reset to prevent non-start situations, ideally by a trained and experienced technician.

Alternator integrity in generators

The alternator is the part of the generator which converts the mechanical energy of the engine into electrical energy, making it vital to the effective performance of the system. Alternator housing, windings, bearings, controls and cooling system should all be included in your maintenance. A resistive-reactive load bank test will help to identify any problems and test the alternator’s capability to provide the required voltage and pinpoint any work that needs to be done to prevent the failure of the generator.

The role of load bank testing a generator and back up power supply

The reality is often that those in charge of maintaining backup power have no regular testing schedule, making an assumption that occasionally powering the generator up, testing for a minimal period, or a visual inspection, will overcome any potential issues. By not testing the system adequately, the generator is put at risk of failure – with the fuel, exhaust and cooling system untested, along with the potential for embedded moisture, putting the system in the very high-risk category.

Using a load bank overcomes this risk, by applying a load to the generator which imitates the operational or ‘real’ load that a generator would use in normal operational conditions. Properly planned and implemented, load banks can be used as part of a preventative maintenance strategy, minimising the likelihood of unscheduled breakdowns and outages and effectively negating the potential risk of downtime.

To talk to our team about your future load testing needs, please contact us.

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