Latest news with #powergenerators
The National
2 days ago
- Business
- The National
Lebanon cracks down on 'generator mafia' charging soaring costs during summer heat
Lebanon is to crack down on owners of power generators accused of ripping off consumers during the summer heat. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday included a discussion about thousands of complaints the government has received about the issue, said Information Minister Paul Morcos. Many Lebanese use private generators because the electricity grid is too unreliable. The government is now giving operators 45 days to comply with new regulations on the sector, including installing meters and charging by the amount of energy used. If operators fail to comply, they could face legal action and have their generators seized, Mr Morcos said. Informally referred to as a "generator mafia", some private operators are known for charging steep flat fees regardless of use that far exceed what someone would expect to pay. It is notoriously difficult to get private generator operators to install meters to calculate energy use fairly if one is not already installed. Lebanon has become dependent on expensive diesel-powered generators since a devastating economic crisis began in 2019 and dealt the fatal blow to its already crumbling electricity sector. State electricity tends to work for four to six hours a day. It means that, if they can afford it, people rely on privately owned generators that use polluting fossil fuels. The smog that hangs over Beirut is seen easily when approaching the Lebanese capital. The reliance on generators has become more acute during a particularly hot summer in Lebanon. This situation worsened in recent days when a technical failure caused state electricity output to briefly grind to a halt, although the problem has since been fixed. Solar power use is slowly growing, but is subject to expensive start-up costs. The state has not built power plants in decades or invested in renewable energy despite several projects being planned, over a lack of agreement on profit sharing.
Reuters
07-08-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Cummins India's quarterly profit rises on higher engine, generator demand
Aug 7 (Reuters) - Cummins India ( opens new tab reported a 30.5% rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by robust demand for its engines and power generators. The company, a unit of U.S.-based truck engine maker Cummins Inc (CMI.N), opens new tab, said its consolidated profit after tax rose to 6.04 billion rupees ($69.05 million) from 4.63 billion rupees a year ago. Demand for power generation equipment typically rises in the summer due to increased electricity consumption from cooling systems and a higher risk of grid overloads or outages, which helps companies like Cummins India. Despite an early onset of monsoons across India this year, several regions still experienced heat waves. A study found in May that nearly 60% of Indian districts face a "high to very high" risk from extreme heat, with rising night-time temperatures and humidity intensifying. The company had noted demand across the board, including the generator business, in its last earnings call in May. Overall sales rose 25.7% on-year to 28.59 billion rupees in the June quarter. Sales of engines and power generators accounted for the majority of the company's revenue, according to their latest annual report. Cummins also recorded a one-off gain of 125.9 million rupees in the quarter from the sale of its stake in a subsidiary. Total expenses rose by 23.4% to 23.34 billion rupees, primarily driven by a 34.2% surge in raw material costs. Parent Cummins Inc reported second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, helped by strong demand for its power generation systems. Cummins India's shares closed up 1.1% ahead of results. ($1 = 87.4740 Indian rupees)
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Rolls-Royce profits soar 50% on strong demand for jet engines
Rolls-Royce has reported a 50% rise in half-year profits, as strong demand for its jet engines and power generators for AI datacentres solidified its turnaround efforts. The British jet-engine maker said underlying operating profits climbed to £1.7bn in the first six months of 2025, up from £1.1bn during the same period last year, in an earnings update that helped push the company's shares to a fresh all-time high. The strong half-year results meant the manufacturer, whose main operations are in Derby, was able to raise its profit forecast for the year from a range of £2.7bn-£2.9bn to £3.1bn-£3.2bn. Rolls-Royce, which makes engines used in large Boeing and Airbus planes, said its earnings were driven in part by 'strong' demand for its large engines business. It has also been helped by the boom in weapons spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Rolls-Royce a key supplier of engines for fighter jets. Its power systems business also had a significant increase in interest from datacentres, which the chief executive Tufan Erginbilgiç confirmed was linked to the boom in artificial intelligence. Orders for datacentres rose by 85% compared with last year. It expects a 20% increase in datacentre orders every year to 2030, having forecast annual growth of 15-17% as recently as February. The results helped propel Rolls-Royce's shares up 10.5% on Thursday morning to a record high of £11.085 – driving the company's valuation above £90bn for the first time. In October 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, its share price fell below 40p. Its valuation has nearly doubled during 2025, and it is the fifth most valuable company on the London Stock Exchange. Rolls-Royce's rally helped to power the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares to a record intraday high of 9,190 points on Thursday morning. The company's turnaround has been a triumph for Erginbilgiç, who ruffled feathers on taking over the business in 2023 by saying it was on a 'burning platform'. Since then he has cut costs and pushed customers to pay more for its products through renegotiating contracts for maintaining jet engines that go on wide-body planes, such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The company also received a recent boost from the UK government's decision to choose it to deliver the first small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) – factory-produced nuclear power stations that aim to cut costs. Rolls-Royce said the SMR business – which it hoped could eventually be bigger than the existing revenues – should be 'profitable and free cashflow positive by 2030' – before delivery of the first SMRs a couple of years later.
Reuters
23-06-2025
- Climate
- Reuters
Grid operator PJM issues maximum generation alert for Monday amid heat wave
June 23 (Reuters) - Grid operator PJM Interconnection has issued an alert for Monday asking power generators to be ready to operate at maximum capacity if needed, as hot weather continues throughout the eastern U.S. region the grid operator serves. PJM expects its electricity needs to reach 160,000 MW on Monday, 158,000 on Tuesday and 155,000 on Wednesday, it said. The alert is aimed at transmission and generation owners who can schedule maintenance work accordingly, and also signals to neighboring regions that PJM power exports may need to be curtailed, the grid operator said. A hot weather alert is in effect through June 25 for PJM's entire service area, which includes all or parts of 13 states including New Jersey and Illinois plus the District of Columbia, ahead of an expected extended heat wave. Major cities across the U.S. are preparing for extreme temperatures caused by a heat dome that hit the U.S. Plains on Friday and is expected to expand to much of the rest of the country over the coming days.
