Electricity and Control June 2020

TRANSFORMERS, SUBSTATIONS + CABLES

Dry-type transformers to suit specialised applications Trafo Power Solutions is the industry-leading supplier of dry-type transformers in sub-Saharan Africa. Based in Johannesburg, the company brings together extensive energy expertise, high quality products, specialised design capabilities and a long history of experience of the African market. Leigh Darroll spoke to Managing Director, David Claassen, about the company, the benefits of dry-type transformers, and the industry sectors the company serves.

A t the time of this interview, South Africa is in the midst of Lockdown Level 4, imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Commenting on this, Claassen acknowledges that it is potentially catastrophic for the country’s economy – and the global impacts are inestimable. Although Trafo Power Solutions experienced a good year through 2019, he says the company began to see the slowdown from early 2020 – and then the world went into reset. For Trafo, this is a time of looking to innovation and as an essential services provider, it aims to continue assisting its customers throughout the lockdown. Turning to the market to date, Claassen says there has generally been a growing uptake of dry-type transformers globally, across industry sectors. Wherever high voltage electricity is required to be distributed, there is a need for transformers. Industry sectors The company operates primarily in the mining sector, across east, west, central and southern Africa, and in the oil and gas sector similarly. It also supplies the food and beverage industry – food processing companies and breweries, for example – where the safety and environmental benefits of dry-type transformers meet the strict hygiene standards specific to this sector. These factors make dry-transformers suitable for the pharmaceutical industry too.

In addition, Trafo supplies transformers to new commercial buildings, hospitals, corporate offices, data centres – buildings usually in highly populated urban areas where dry-type transformers offer the advantage that they can be installed indoors, in basements or on roofs, as well as their inherent safety and environmental benefits. A further growth sector has been in power generation, particularly for standby or backup solutions where diesel or solar power are often used and where transformers are typically required to step up voltage of the power supply. This growth emerged in South Africa around 2008, when the instability of the national supply grid became apparent, and the growth has continued. Claassen notes that for facilities where power supply is critical – hospitals or data centres and others – dry-type transformers have been retrofitted to ensure stability of supply from backup solutions. And he points to other areas of industrial application, such as the upgrade of Transnet’s Saldanha Bay port where Trafo has recently supplied specialised dry-type transformers ( see Side bar ). This range of applications across various sectors points to the company’s flexibility and its focus on supplying specialised, non-standard transformers to meet the specific requirements for each project.

Advantages of dry-type transformers It is because dry-type transformers do not rely on mineral

David Claassen, Managing Director of Trafo Power Solutions.

A modular substation installation, which includes cast resin transformers, at a West African mining operation.

IP42 cast resin transformers installed in an indoor substation at a coal mine in South Africa.

24 Electricity + Control JUNE 2020