Transformer shortage hits utilities in storm season
USA, Washington D.C.: An already tight supply line for transformers has become more constrained as supply and demand are pushed further apart, says DoE.
Image source: E&E News
USA, Washington D.C.: An already tight supply line for transformers has become more constrained as supply and demand are pushed further apart, says DoE.
US utilities are heavily dependent on foreign transformer manufacturers, and that supply chain — like many others — has grown tighter because of disruptions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. Existing US based transformer builders report difficulties in finding the highly skilled workers required to ensure compliance with stiff quality standards.
At the same time, expansion of clean energy resources in many countries is ramping up demand for transformers of all sizes because of their essential role in managing current flows. The growth of US-based transformer production is hampered by high global demand for the specialized steel and wiring it requires.
A report by the Department of Energy (DoE) in February pinpointed transformers as an essential component of the Biden administration’s clean energy goals.
The largest transformers, costing $2 M to $10 M each according to a study several years ago, step up voltages for long-distance power delivery, and their massive size requires shipment on rail cars, barges and heavy-load trucks. They are essential for an expansion of the power grid to carry carbon-free wind and solar power.
The supply pressures are greater on smaller, distribution-level transformers than for the biggest units, said Aaronson, senior vice president for security and preparedness at EEI, which represents investor-owned US electric utilities.
The pressure on deliveries of transformers of all sizes has moved to the top of government and industry lists of
Concerns about US over-dependence on foreign suppliers for large transformers goes back more than a decade, beginning with conflicting scientific assessments about whether transformers could survive an attack by electromagnetic space weapons or a once-in-a-century solar flare.
American Electric Power Co., Berkshire Hathaway Energy and FirstEnergy Corp. created a consortium called Grid Assurance in 2016 to buy and stockpile large replacement transformers that could be dispatched in emergencies to subscribing utilities. The companies and their affiliates operate in 23 states.
“We are very fortunate,” said Grid Assurance CEO David Rupert. “All of our assets we are holding for our subscribers we purchased starting two years ago.”
Its stockpile was complete by April 2021.
“We have not been impacted by the current events, which is really the design of Grid Assurance,” Rupert said in an interview. The operation has arranged clearances in advance to move transformers by rail across the USA, he said.
Source: E&E News
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