Power Rentals FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Renting a Microturbine
As an Energy as a Service (EaaS) provider, Capstone offers rental systems that allow customers to produce power at their location either in parallel with the utility or as a stand-alone system. Microturbine rentals don’t just offer clean, reliable, portable power, they are a flexible and often cost-effective option for supporting a site or application’s unique needs.
Whether you’re exploring backup power, off-grid generation, or a scalable alternative to costly infrastructure upgrades, this blog is a great place to start. For this article, we sat down with Gorgui Ndoye, Capstone’s Sr. Director of Business Development to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Capstone’s rental offering – from deployment timelines to typical use cases and support.
What are some of the benefits of renting versus owning a microturbine system?
There are several situations that make renting a Capstone system more advantageous than purchasing one. The first is speed to implementation. If you need power or power supplementation fast, rather than waiting, for example, six months, we can have a system up and running in as little as 2 weeks.
Beyond timing, budget may be a consideration. Purchasing a system can be a large upfront expense. So, for companies that need power but want to spread the cost out over time, sometimes two years, renting is an attractive option that functions much like a monthly utility bill. It can also be an operational expense that is easier to obtain administrative or board-level approval on and therefore, offers a shorter turnaround for deployment.
What kinds of customers benefit from microturbine rentals?
Oil & Gas Operations:
Energy production sites, especially oilfields, are a natural fit for rentals. Because well sites have a finite supply that depletes over time, rentals allow operators to scale power as needed and return the equipment when operations conclude.
Our systems are low maintenance—ideal for remote locations—and run on available fuels like natural gas. With ultra-low emissions, they help meet strict environmental regulations and are easier to permit than traditional diesel generators, making them a cleaner, more sustainable solution for upstream and midstream applications.
Indoor Agriculture and Controlled Growing Facilities:
In regions where utility power is expensive, unavailable, or insufficient, indoor agricultural operations benefit from rental microturbines that provide fast, reliable, and clean on-site power. For some of these growing facilities, utility power is too expensive and often insufficient to meet their needs; for facilities in remote locations, utility power may not even be an option. Microturbine rentals allow for fast deployment and reliable, more cost-effective and environmentally friendly power generation.
Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure:
Electric Vehicle charging is another application that rentals work well for. Currently, the grid is strained to support this ever-growing energy need. So, for a company that is looking to expand its EV fleet, microturbine rentals provide a bridge until the utility can supply enough power.
Emergency Backup Power:
Microturbine rentals also support backup power needs. A facility that can’t risk losing power because of weather or other incidents can have peace of mind that the microturbines will automatically support critical loads when there is an outage or natural disaster.
Data Centers:
While large-scale data centers generally require more electricity than can be economically provided by a microturbine rental, there are still several practical applications where rentals provide real value. For example, microturbine rentals can serve as essential backup power for smaller data facilities or be used to support edge computing sites that operate in remote or off-grid locations. They’re also a smart solution for temporary supplemental power during infrastructure upgrades, equipment replacements, or periods of expansion—helping to maintain uptime and avoid service disruptions. The low-maintenance design and low emissions profile of Capstone microturbines make them especially appealing for critical digital infrastructure that requires high reliability with minimal operational overhead
What information does Capstone need to spec out a rental system?
Our sales engineer would need to know who the end-customer is; what’s the application, location, and power requirement, as well as the site’s environmental conditions. Also, we need to know if there is on-site fuel available such as a natural gas connection or if we will need to provide a compressed natural gas tank. We need to know approximately how long the rental will be deployed. Depending on the length of time, there may be pricing discounts we can factor in.
In some instances, we will need to know more detailed information, such as whether there is a crane onsite to assist with delivery, or if there are permitting issues that need to be addressed, and who will be responsible for them.
Once our team has this basic information, we are able to provide budgetary pricing and deployment timelines.
What kind of service support is included with a rental agreement?
Regardless of whether a customer rents directly from Capstone Green Energy or one of our authorized distributors, regular interval service is included in the agreement, so customers don’t need to handle any system maintenance over the life of their contract.
It is important to know, however, that because microturbines have only one moving part, they require very little maintenance (if any, depending on the length of the rental). This is a significant benefit over a generator, which requires more hands-on, more frequent, and more costly maintenance, such as regular oil changes that require the unit to be offline for periods of time.
What are some typical contract lengths for a microturbine rental?
Many of our customers opt for terms between 12 and 24 months. Longer or shorter durations may be available depending on the project, contact us to discuss your specific timeline.
Does Capstone rent microturbine systems enabled with Combined Heat and Power (CHP)?
Currently, our rental fleet is just for generating electricity, not CHP. Those kinds of systems require more permanent equipment such as a chiller or heat exchanger. But if a customer has a genuine interest in adding CHP to a microturbine rental system, we would be happy to explore the options with them.
Does Capstone rent battery storage equipment along with the microturbines?
Yes, some customers do add battery storage to their rental setup. This is ideal for:
- Peak shaving
- Load leveling
- Noise-sensitive areas where generators would be restricted
Interested in learning more about our rental service? Send us a note at rentals@cgrnenergy.com and we will put you in touch with one of our experts.