January 5, 2018

Power transformers – global market analysis

Abstract Global market for power transformers above 100 kV reached $18 billion in 2016. APAC region has the largest demand for power transformers, with China,...

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Abstract

Global market for power transformers above 100 kV reached $18 billion in 2016. APAC region has the largest demand for power transformers, with China, India and Indonesia leading the market. Following APAC is the Americas market, with USA leading in terms of the market size owing to grid replacements and renewable integration. In EMEA, strong growth is driven by GCC countries and Sub-Saharan Africa owing to increased demand.

Keywords: power transformer market, smart grid, asset health monitoring

 

1. Introduction

Power transformers market is expected to see a strong growth in years to come. Key drivers of the global growth are generation capacity additions to cater for an increased demand and electrification, high replacement rates in developed countries and strict grid stability requirements owing to renewables. These factors have contributed to a higher demand for power transformers which will continue to grow in years to come.

 

2. Importance of power transformers in the grid

Power transformers are a critical piece of equipment in the power grid. A failure or disruption in such a transformer can cause electricity outage for a very large area with thousands of customers. Often, apart from causing outage, transformer failure can have external impacts, such as huge explosions, fire and damage to the property and equipment around it. Therefore, timely repair and maintenance is of extreme importance for these transformers and drives the maintenance and replacement market globally.

Power transformers are a globally traded product with supply and demand connected between regions. These transformers are usually built by large Tier-1 manufacturers in limited locations for export globally. This impacts the supply-demand of power transformers beyond national, and even continental borders at times. Custom design for every project, special raw materials, extremely high efficiency and testing requirements result in high prices and lead times of several months. Due to these factors, it is important to analyze the market of power transformers (>72 kV) distinctly from distribution transformers (<72 kV). There is a significant difference in market dynamics for both types of equipment even though they are both transformers.

 

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