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Interview with Hitachi Energy’s Norbert Beatrix at CWIEME Berlin 2024
Norbert Beatrix, Transformers business leader in Europe, shares his impressions about CWIEME 2024 and insights into the company’s recently announced investments in the region.
Norbert Beatrix
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Hitachi Energy has concluded a successful presence at CWIEME Berlin 2024, showcasing the company’s innovative solutions and global leadership in transformer insulation and components. We had the opportunity to visit their stand and meet Norbert Beatrix, Head of Transformers Business in Europe. As the energy transition is accelerating at speed and scale, Norbert shares his insights on the significant momentum the energy sector is facing and the key challenges ahead.
Could you share some insights about Hitachi Energy’s participation at CWIEME this year? What were your main highlights or key takeaways from the event?
Firstly, I must say we are very proud of having concluded a successful presence at CWIEME for many consecutive years. This year, we unveiled GOB+, an innovation for our leading bushings portfolio, with a spectacular live launch ceremony shared with many event attendees.
The primary takeaway from such events is the invaluable opportunity to directly engage with customers, partners, industry stakeholders, as well as colleagues and experts around the world. I have enjoyed these interactions on technology developments, trends, and solutions, leading us forward in the collective journey toward decarbonization. The climate urgency requires collaboration, co-creation, and innovation, making such energy industry gatherings essential for driving progress.
As you mentioned, Hitachi Energy launched its new bushings solution, GOB+, at the event. What is it about and what are the benefits of such technology?
GOB+ is Hitachi Energy’s latest bushings portfolio and the newest member of our multi-generational family of oil impregnated (OIP) transformer bushings. It’s a significant improvement on the existing and trusted OIP bushings GOB series, with the benefit of providing a broader kilovolt (kV) range, upgraded ratings, and superior features that accommodate global standards and market requirements. Indeed, GOB+ covers voltages from 36 kV to 245 kV and current ratings up to 3150 A and has multiple design variants to enable fast customization and is available in different configurations to better serve the market.
Our goal was to build on the outstanding technical performance foundation of the legacy GOB+ bushings, while incorporating some additional benefits to our customers such as short delivery times, easy installation, and low maintenance.
We are very proud to say that the existing GOB range is currently an international best-seller for bushings, counting more than 250,000 units delivered successfully over the last 50 years. It was a true honour to have presented GOB+, the next generation of bushings, during CWIEME 2024 edition!
Recently, Hitachi Energy announced a major total investment of more than $1.5 billion to increase transformer production capacity worldwide. Could you explain how this is expected to impact the European region?
Indeed, this is excellent news. As the energy transition gains momentum, the demand for transformers to support electrification efforts is unprecedented. This global investment not only underscores our commitment to supporting progress but also demonstrates our dedication to meeting our customers’ mid- and long-term needs.
The company’s investment in the global transformer capacity helps to ramp up production by 2027, creating over 4,000 jobs and accelerating our speed to market. In Europe alone, we have already earmarked significant investments, including a more than €30 million (approx. $32 million) expansion and modernization of our power transformer manufacturing facility in Bad Honnef, Germany, which is set for completion in 2026 and will generate up to 100 new jobs. Our more than $180 million investment in a new state-of-the-art transformer production and technology campus in the Vaasa region in Finland is expected to be completed by 2027 and is projected to create around 200 new jobs.
We continue to build on our strong commitment and expand our footprint of transformer technology design, production, and service facilities globally to support our customers and accelerate the clean energy transition. We aim to be pivotal in advancing a sustainable energy future for all.
As a pioneering technology leader, we collaborate with customers and partners to enable a sustainable energy future – for today’s generations and those to come.
Transformers Magazine’s research on Investments – Outlook to 2033 showed that 45% of companies have underutilized capacities due to the lack of skilled labour. How do you attract enough people, and especially, what are you doing to attract talent?
At Hitachi Energy, attracting and retaining talent is one of the top priorities, especially in a competitive job market where skilled labour is in high demand. As already mentioned, we have invested significantly, and we continue to invest in expanding our capacity. Therefore, we have a need for people not only with diversified and specific skills but also with passion.
We offer more than just a job; we offer a chance to be part of a Purpose-driven company committed to advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We are advancing the world’s energy system to be more sustainable, flexible, and secure. Our innovative technologies help to increase access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy that’s vital for society to prosper and progress. Such purposeful innovation fuels our passion and drives us forward.
Open collaboration and customer focus are key dimensions of our Hitachi Energy culture. Wherever our teams are in the world, our experts thrive on ‘teaming up’ to co-create impactful solutions that deliver customer success and societal progress. Our culture of innovation has been defined by our long and rich heritage of pioneering technologies for over a century. Today, our pioneering spirit lives on and remains strong. We push boundaries, we break records, and we never give up. Our work is ever evolving to meet the challenges of how we live today, and we are very proud of what we achieve together.
I’d also like to highlight that diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to our business strategy. We believe that the best ideas can come from diverse perspectives, and we actively seek talent from all over the world with various skills and backgrounds.
At Hitachi Energy, we live by this powerful equation: Diversity + Collaboration = Great Innovation. Together with our customers and partners, we are advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We will only recognize this future when everyone has a seat at the table in an inclusive, collaborative culture.