BUY New & Used Commercial Backup Generators 1400kW-1499kW GENERATORS FOR SALE

Industries That Use 1400 kW to 1499 kW Generators

Buyers who land here have a load study that came back between 1,400 and 1,500 kW and a reason not to round it up. Some need long-hour gas power on site; others are matching a standby set to a facility that grew past 1,250 kW.

• Oil and gas: Production and processing sites with gas on hand, where a power module can burn the fuel the site already moves and run for thousands of hours a year.
• Data centers: Halls whose critical load has outgrown a 1250 kW set, where the question is whether one larger unit or a pair of smaller ones fits the redundancy plan.
• Hospitals: Campus additions that push an existing essential system into the 1.4 MW range, often with the existing switchgear setting the voltage.
• Mining: Remote operations where the generator carries the site every day, which makes the prime rating, not the standby nameplate, the figure that counts.
• Water districts: Treatment and pumping facilities where the largest pump start, not the running total, can push the requirement toward 1.5 MW.
• Rental fleets: Containerized power modules built to be moved and set again, the same packaging as every unit we list in this band.
• Cold storage and processing: Refrigeration and compressor banks that have to restart in sequence after an outage without losing product.

Sector-by-sector sizing guidance is collected on our industries served pages.

1400 kW to 1499 kW Generators at a Glance

• Apparent power: 1,750 to 1,874 kVA at 0.8 power factor.
• Current, three-phase: calculated at about 2,105 to 2,254 A at 480V and 243 to 260 A at 4160V, between our chart’s 1,885 A and 2,260 A rows at 1250 and 1500 kW.
• Diesel burn at full load: bracketed by 88.8 gal/hr at 1250 kW and 106.5 gal/hr at 1500 kW on our chart.
• Weight at the upper bracket: 28,443 lb wet for an open Kohler KD1500, against 18,766 to 20,463 lb for an open Generac SD1000 at the lower bracket.
• What we list here: used natural gas power modules from Cummins and Caterpillar, carrying 2,574 to 25,440 hours.
• Decision that sets the size: whether the load runs on standby or prime duty, since a 1500 kW standby set is rated well under 1,400 kW on prime.

Power Modules Listed From 1,400 to 1,499 kW

Three units are listed in this band today, shown at their listed output:

Compare that with the 1500 kW listings one step up, which are all diesel standby sets: Caterpillar 3512C, Cummins DQGAB, and an MTU 1500DSEB, built from 2005 to 2011 and showing 219 to 770 hours. Inside this band the machines are gas, packaged to move, and worked hard; a 2021 module already showing 4,684 hours has run far more than a standby set ever would. If nothing here fits your duty, the 1000kW – 1499kW listings and our 1500 kW generators carry the diesel standby options on either side.

Spec Sheets on Either Side of 1.4 MW

None of our single-size pages falls inside this band, so these are the published figures we work from for the sizes that bracket it, labeled by which side they sit on:

Two figures matter most for this band. The KD1500’s prime rating of 1,350 kW sits below the bottom of this range, so a 1500 kW standby diesel cannot carry a 1,400 kW load around the clock on its prime rating. And the G3516C, a continuous-duty gas engine, is rated above 1,500 kW on its continuous figure, so a gas engine built for long hours can cover this whole band without leaning on a standby rating.

Fuel at the 1250 kW and 1500 kW Chart Rows

Our diesel fuel consumption chart has no row between 1250 and 1500 kW. Read this band between the two:

Kohler prints 105.9 gal/hr at full standby load and 58.6 gal/hr at half load for the KD1500, close to the chart’s 1500 kW row. Its sub-base tanks run from 1,549 to 5,808 gallons, which works out to roughly 15 to 55 hours at full load, or about 99 hours on the largest tank at half load. A diesel at the top of this band burns around 2,500 gallons a day flat out, which is one reason continuous duty at this size moves to pipeline gas.

The chart is diesel only. Gas engines are rated by heat rate: at the G3516C’s 9,480 Btu/ekW-hr and 1,660 ekW, the engine takes in about 15.7 million Btu an hour at full continuous load. Confirm supply pressure and flow from the data sheet for the exact unit, because our source does not print a readable pressure figure for it.

Current From 1 MW to 1.5 MW, With This Band Calculated

Three-phase amps at 0.8 power factor. The 1000, 1250, and 1500 kW rows are from our generator amperage chart. The chart has no 1400 or 1499 kW row, so those two lines are calculated from kVA (kW divided by 0.8) and are marked as such:

From one megawatt to the top of this band, current at 480V climbs by about 750 A, half again what a 1000 kW set delivers. That is the electrical step this band represents: breakers, bus, and the number of parallel conductor runs per phase are sized for roughly 2,100 to 2,300 A rather than 1,500. The upper end of this band and a true 1500 kW set are practically the same machine to the switchgear; Kohler’s KD1500 sheet lists 2,256 A at 277/480V, within a few amps of the 1,499 kW calculation. At 4160V the whole band stays between about 243 and 261 A, and on the KD1500 a generator heater and thermocouple input/output come standard at that voltage. Run your own figure through our power calculators before settling on a voltage.

When a 1,400 kW Load Belongs on a 1500 kW Set

Step up to 1500 kW when the duty is prime rather than standby, when site conditions cut available output, or when a large motor start sets the requirement.

Prime duty is the clearest case. Kohler rates the KD1500 at 1,350 kW prime at 480V and 1,340 kW at 4160V, so even the 1500 kW frame falls short of a 1,400 kW load that runs continuously. A standby application works the other way: a 1,450 kW standby load on a 1500 kW standby set leaves only 50 kW, about 3 percent, of margin.

Site conditions eat into that margin. Heat and elevation both reduce what an engine and alternator can deliver, and Kohler notes that an enclosure with an enclosed silencer lowers the KD1500 radiator’s 50 °C ambient rating by 5 °C. Calculate against your site rather than the nameplate. Motor starting is the third check: a chiller or fire pump started across the line pulls several times its running current for a few seconds, and soft starters or variable frequency drives can sometimes keep a project inside this band instead of above it.

What argues against stepping up by default is wet stacking. A diesel that spends years well below its rated load never reaches full combustion temperature, and unburned fuel fouls the turbocharger, injectors, and exhaust. Size to the real load plus the worst transient, then pick the frame that covers it at site conditions.

Why Everything Listed in This Band Runs on Gas

Because the units that reach us at this size have done long-hour work, and long-hour work above a megawatt tends to run on pipeline gas.

Nothing we list between 1,250 and 1,500 kW today is diesel, and in this band each unit is a power module rather than a pad-mounted standby set. Gas suits a machine that runs thousands of hours a year, since nobody has to refill a tank against a burn of more than 100 gal/hr. The hours on these modules show that history, from 2,574 on the newer Cummins units to 25,440 on the 2012 Caterpillar. Diesel still carries emergency standby at this size because it carries its fuel on site, which is why the 1500 kW listings above are diesel standby sets with a few hundred hours each. Gas units are under industrial natural gas generators and diesel sets under industrial diesel generators.

Footprint and Weight Stepping Up to 1.5 MW

Plan the pad and the truck around the upper bracket, because the frame grows faster than the rating.

Generac lists the open SD1000 at 209.8 x 102.0 x 91.5 inches. Kohler lists the open KD1500 radiator model at up to 228.3 x 84.7 x 97.6 inches and 28,443 lb wet, about 8,000 lb more than the heaviest open SD1000 figure, and says its drawing is for reference only. Its optional sub-base tank is a double-wall UL 142 tank under the skid, so the pad carries the set and up to 5,808 gallons of fuel together. Enclosures add more: the KD1500 comes open, in an aluminum Sound Level 1 housing, or in an insulated Level 2 housing. Our shipping and returns policy covers freight terms.

Hours, Condition, and New or Used at This Size

On a used gas module, hours and service history decide the price more than age does.

A 2021 module at 2,574 hours and a 2012 module at 25,440 hours are different purchases even at similar output, so ask for maintenance records, overhaul history, and load bank results before comparing prices. The KD1500 is EPA Tier 2 certified for stationary emergency use; if a set will run outside emergency service, confirm what your permit requires. Buy new if the spec demands a factory warranty or unused equipment. Browse used industrial generators and new industrial generators side by side, and for a short-term need, our rental side, Stag Power Rentals, covers bridge power while generator financing options help when the purchase is the right call but the budget cycle is not.

Too Small or Too Large for 1400 kW to 1499 kW?

This band is narrow, so check one band down and one band up before committing.

If the study lands in the 1,200s or 1,300s, drop a band and the set runs at a healthier load. If prime duty, derating, or a motor start pushes the requirement past 1,500 kW, step up. Every output we carry is on shop by kW.

Inspected, Load Tested, and Backed After the Sale

Every unit we sell goes through a 22-point inspection and load bank testing before it ships, which is the proof that a high-hour gas module still makes its rating. We’ve supplied industrial generators for over a decade. Each purchase carries our 30-day IronClad warranty, and our service and maintenance team handles industrial generator repair and scheduled testing after it is running.

Ready to Buy a 1400kW – 1499kW Generator?

Tell us the load, whether it runs standby or prime, the voltage, and the site’s altitude and heat, and we’ll tell you whether a 1,400 kW class gas module covers it or a 1500 kW set is the safer buy. Look through our used industrial generators and new industrial generators, or contact us and we’ll work the numbers with you.