MTU’s generator sets can be found in industries that include agricultural, commercial and construction.

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MTU Onsite Energy CFO and Controlling Director Kristine Eustice is on a power trip – just not in the conventional sense. Maybe that’s be­cause Eustice has seen the impact MTU Onsite Energy’s decentralized power generation systems have had on commercial and industrial clients worldwide. With the ever-increasing need for power – be it primary or standby – MTU Onsite Energy has set its sights on a single goal: to effectively meet the decentralized power needs of its clients through predictive customization.   

It is this focus on customization that allows Eustice to be upbeat about her company’s future even in a down economy. “In the last two years, we doubled our output and we are looking for 20 percent growth in 2009 primarily because we have a niche that our larger competitors just can’t do, and that’s customization,” Eustice says.

Custom Niche
MTU Onsite Energy manufactures diesel-powered generators ranging from 20 kilowatts to 3,250 kilowatts offered in low and medium voltages. In fact, its 3,250 generator set is the largest high-speed diesel generator set in North America and was recently recognized in Consulting and Specifying Engineer magazine’s Product of the Year competition.   

MTU Onsite Energy’s natural gas-powered generators range from 25 to 400 kilowatts and its energy systems deliver on the brand promise to produce power, heat and cooling anywhere and anytime, Eustice claims.   

MTU Onsite Energy gensets can be found in a wide variety of applications including: agricultural, commercial, industrial, construction, healthcare and tele­communications.   

MTU Onsite Energy operates more than 110,000-square-feet in manufacturing facilities in Mankato, Minn., where it divides its assembly process between small and large units. Its generator sets are available globally via a national and international network of factory trained and certified distributors. MTU Onsite Energy also operates a state-of-the-art training facility and research and development area to support its distributor network.   

Working with its distributors, MTU Onsite Energy provides a total design package to create engine
generator sets that meet custom requirements. According to Eustice, expertise with CAD technology and willingness to listen to its customers’ specific requirements is what has helped MTU Onsite Energy carve a niche for itself in custom power generation packages.    

“Sure, there are much larger generator manufacturers than us, but we can customize a bit more,” Eustice notes. “We like to build to the customer’s specifications and hold very little inventory in stock.”  

Each genset consists of four major components: the engine, generator, radiator and base. Product is purchased primarily in the United States, often through local suppliers who have worked long-term with MTU Onsite Energy. The majority of engines for its gensets are provided by sister company MTU, the technology leader in high-speed diesel engines, it says. Today, large-unit generators are in higher demand, and MTU Onsite Energy is in the process of developing a more standardized 500-kilowatt-and-above unit for the worldwide marketplace.

Changing Ownership
The company’s Mankato power generation operations date back more than 50 years to when the company was founded as Katolight Corp. to manufacture gasoline- and diesel-powered generator sets. Katolight was founded in 1952 by Cecil Jones and was owned and operated by Kay and Lyle Jacobsen as a privately held corporation until being acquired by Friedrichshafen, Germany-based Tognum GmbH in 2007.   

Although its operations and management philosophies have not changed significantly since the acquisition, Eustice says, Katolight has reaped the fiscal and R&D benefits of being part of a global company.    

In September 2008, the Katolight brand officially became part of a new international Tognum power brand: MTU Onsite Energy, making its Mankato location the North American production site for MTU Onsite Energy.  Other Tognum subsidiaries involved in decentralized energy generation – MDE, CFC Solutions and MTU Power Generation – were also consolidated under the umbrella of the MTU Onsite Energy brand at that time.