The transformer shortage, in pictures
Nine photographs from the four factories still building large power transformers in North America.
There are four factories in North America still building large power transformers at scale. Between them they produce fewer units in a year than the continent’s utilities ordered in the first quarter.
A large power transformer is not a commodity. Each is designed for a specific site, wound to a specific voltage ratio, and tested against a specific set of fault conditions. The copper alone can run to forty tonnes. Once built, the unit is too heavy for most bridges and must be routed by a survey team before it ships.
These nine photographs were taken over three visits between February and June. They show the winding floor, the vacuum-drying ovens, the test bay where a finished unit is subjected to voltages it will never see in service, and the loading dock where a completed transformer waits for a road permit.
The lead time on a unit ordered today is between three and four years. In 2019 it was eighteen months.
Photographs by Sela Amari for Meridian.
Marcus writes about semiconductors, compute supply chains, and the companies betting against the industry roadmap.
