400 kW to 2200 kW · Containerised

Containerised Diesel Generators (ISO 20ft and 40ft)

Above roughly 400 kW the canopy stops being practical: the steelwork gets heavy, the service access gets awkward, and moving the set needs a crane whatever you do. A container shell solves all three at once. The set lives inside an ISO 20ft or 40ft enclosure with walk-in service space, the cooling and exhaust are engineered into the shell, and the whole unit is handled, shipped and secured like any other container.

For a remote site - an island, a mine, a data centre campus - the container is also the shipping crate. It arrives by normal container freight, it sits on a simple concrete plinth, and it keeps the wind, the rain and the salt spray off the machine for years.

What this form includes

• ›ISO 20ft or 40ft shell with walk-in service aisle, hinged or sliding doors and internal lighting.
• ›Engineered ventilation: inlet louvres with dust filters and motorised exhaust louvers, sized to the radiator airflow.
• ›Exhaust routed to the shell wall with a critical silencer and a rain cap, so the run leaves the enclosure cleanly.
• ›Optional bulk fuel tank inside the shell or in a separate tank container, with a day tank and transfer pump.
• ›Optional synchronising and load-sharing panels for multi-set plants, mounted in the same shell.

Catalogue models normally built in this form

These are the sizes we quote most often as containerised sets, 400 kW to 2200 kW prime. Outside that band we build to the same specification on request - send the load and the site conditions and an engineer will size it. Each card opens the full datasheet with the fuel curve and dimensions.

Browse all 27 generator sets →

Power ratings follow ISO 8528-1:2018 (Prime PRP / Standby ESP), and the fuel figures are stated at ISO 3046-1:2002 standard reference conditions. Both are confirmed unit by unit on our load bank, and the test record ships with the set. Standby figures are the engine's factory standby rating from the model spectrum table — never a computed 110% of the rated output. Noise figures are typical open-type reference values, not a guaranteed sound-power level.

Where this form fits best

• ›Data centres and large standby plants where several sets sit side by side.
• ›Remote mining, island and off-grid sites where the set must arrive as freight and be protected on site.
• ›Salt-spray and heavy-rain environments, where a container shell outlasts an open installation.
• ›Projects where the buyer wants the switchgear, the fuel system and the set in one delivered package.

What you give up

Every form trades something. These are the drawbacks of the containerised option as we build it - worth reading before the quotation, not after.

• ›Higher cost than a canopy, and a longer lead time because the shell is engineered, not just bolted on.
• ›Footprint: a 40ft container needs road access and a crane or a reach stacker at both ends.
• ›Ventilation has to be designed, not assumed: an undersized inlet will derate the set or trip it on high coolant temperature.
• ›Not a substitute for a proper foundation: the shell still needs a level, load-bearing plinth and a cable route.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other generator types

Silent vs open: the full comparison →