Single phase power won’t do much to power a modern grain-handling system but the cost to bring three-phase to the bin yard ranges from $200,000 to $1 million.
It might make sense to buy a used three-phase genset from the oilpatch. The most common is a 440-volt three-phase unit delivering 100 kW up to 300 kW. A low-hour genset sells for about $30,000. Some equipment dealers across all three prairie provinces buy them to keep in stock for farmers who might need one in a hurry.
A common scenario sees a grower expand his grain-handling system without considering electricity requirements. He starts with 40 horsepower to run 600 bushels per hour. Then the system escalates to 80 hp. Now three-phase is a necessity, especially if the farmer adds a pneumatic system requiring a lot of air and therefore a lot of electricity.
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Most dryer installations need a 75 hp blower to move grain from the dryer to the bins and another 75 hp for various smaller fans and motors. But you can’t do 150 hp with single phase.
Sometimes a farmer decides to build a new bin yard from scratch to have a well-thought-out system that has plenty of design options.
In picking a new site, even if it’s miles from the home yard, it should have three things: natural gas, three-phase power and a hardtop road right to the driveway.
If you find a site with two of the three factors, natural gas and hardtop road, then it’s easy to get the three-phase power with a genset.
If the electric utility plans to bring three-phase in the foreseeable future, then rent a genset temporarily. The other thing about a three-phase genset is they start right away, they run better and there are fewer service calls.
