TRANSFORMERS - Shortage

[mtnelect]

ROANOKE, Va. — A high-voltage grid transformer as big as a railroad boxcar sits on the loading dock of a factory here, ready to push power across transmission lines as an indispensable part of the nation’s electric grid.

The Virginia Transformer Corp. will ship 550 of these transformers this year and expects to produce 665 next year from its plant here and three other North American facilities. But it is one of only eight companies in the United States able to manufacture the nation’s largest transformers — and deliveries have fallen way behind schedule amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Indeed, the United States is undergoing a shortage of a range of transformers — spanning smaller, pole-top units on city streets to Virginia Transformer’s massive units — for reasons that vary depending on the equipment. That means utilities could struggle to add enough new wind and solar generation to meet the country’s net-zero goals and to keep the lights on when storms damage their depleted transformer stockpiles.

 

[petersonra]

Hopefully we have learned what a bad idea it was to farm out the capability to build up our infrastructure to an unfriendly foreign power so our politicians could collect graft.

 

[letgomywago]

I think it's the Decepticons

 

[electrofelon]

One of the POCOs around here is out of and can't get pad Mount transformers, so they are setting poles and using pole transformers to get people powered up.

I did a step up step down to 7200V a few years ago for someone who had a 2000' power run. I was able to get two DOE2016 surplus pad mounts for this for about $1600 each delivered (one off eBay, one from Solomon). I haven't seen a 15 or 25kva pad Mount on ebay in months, and an actual good one in years. I have told that client several times how fortunate she was to pull the trigger when she did.

 

[petersonra]

One of the POCOs around here is out of and can't get pad Mount transformers, so they are setting poles and using pole transformers to get people powered up.

I did a step up step down to 7200V a few years ago for someone who had a 2000' power run. I was able to get two DOE2016 surplus pad mounts for this for about $1600 each delivered (one off eBay, one from Solomon). I haven't seen a 15 or 25kva pad Mount on ebay in months, and an actual good one in years. I have told that client several times how fortunate she was to pull the trigger when she did.

Are 15 or 25 KVA padmounts all that common to begin with?

 

[electrofelon]

Are 15 or 25 KVA padmounts all that common to begin with?

Yes used very frequently for UG residential services. I would say a 25KVA 7200->120/240 is likely one of the most common transformers in America.

 

[Little Bill]

Are 15 or 25 KVA padmounts all that common to begin with?

Yes, since most new subdivisions require underground. Even not in a subdivision, if someone is quite a distance off the road, they will go underground. I just did one where the customer already had a pad mount but was adding a new building 300' away. POCO dropped off a 25 KVA pad mount pad, which we had to set, POCO set the transformer and powered it off the existing pad mount.
POCO said they got a few transformers in and they were gone in days.

 

[petersonra]

Yes used very frequently for UG residential services. I would say a 25KVA 7200->120/240 is likely one of the most common transformers in America.

we don't have a lot of small UG services around my neck of the woods.

 

[David Castor]

There's a world-wide backlog of transformers partly due to the shortage of the transformer core steel and other components. Wind and solar farms require a lot of transformers. This is not limited to the US. There is still a fairly strong transformer manufacturing capability in the US.