At the moment of writing this Editorial message, we are approaching the end of 2016, and I would like to summarize most important facts from 2016 and share with you some updates and likely scenarios for the near future.

The Transformers Magazine team has worked throughout the year aiming to bring relevant public information to our community. We participated at fairs, conferences, international working groups and paid visits to our customers, meeting people from all parts of the world, from Australia to Canada and from South America to Korea. A few photos included in this message illustrate this. In total, we have published roughly 800 transformers-related news items in 2016.

From all the novelties we have seen, I would single out the world’s first 1,100 kV DC power link to be built in China, for which converter transformers have been ordered from Siemens and ABB. We have also witnessed a solid progress of resilience transformers, particularly in the U.S. The concept of pluggable transformers has progressed to the point where it has the potential to redefine how we use transformers. You can learn more about this concept in one of the interviews in this issue.

In the field of tap-changers we have seen also a lot of improvements, promising a matured technology for distribution transformers, and bringing some completely new concepts for power transformers, such as direct drive, enhanced switching, etc.