Summary
- Client type
- a Free State irrigation and packhouse operation
- Industry
- Agriculture
- Location
- Free State
- Specification
- 150 kVA three-phase diesel, motor-start sized for pivots and cold rooms
- Timeframe
- 6 weeks supply and install
The challenge
Six centre pivots and packhouse cold rooms shared a weak rural feeder. Previous portable sets could not start staggered pump loads without voltage collapse, and cold-chain alarms had already cost one export window.
The load assessment
We listed each pivot motor, start method and cable length, then cold-room compressors and pack-line diversity. Starting kVA — not average running kW — set the frame size.
The solution specified and why
A 150 kVA three-phase AGP diesel with automatic start on essential irrigation and cold-room boards. Soft-start guidance on two pumps reduced required headroom versus full DOL everywhere.
Installation and commissioning
Pad adjacent to the pump house, fuel storage per farm fire rules, CoC on fixed wiring. Operator training covered daily checks and fuel water separation.
Results
- Six pivots kept through a full heat-wave week on generator without trip events logged by the operator.
- Cold-room pulp temperatures held in spec during a nine-hour feeder fault (site temperature log).
- Parts for first service held on farm — filters arrived on the committed date when ordered later.
“We are four hours from the nearest town. Parts arrive when they say they will, and that is the whole reason we changed supplier.”
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