The 230 KV 900 MVA Generator Step-Up (GSU) shell transformer weighs 804,000 pounds and is capable of supplying power to a mid-sized city. On Feb. 27, a special rail car that’s 200-feet-long – the size of a 20-story building – departed for one of the largest investor-owned electric utilities in the country. The transformer is the biggest Efacec Group has ever made, and the largest manufactured domestically in the last two decades.
“This is a record-setting achievement in many ways, including the size and quality of the transformer as well as the use of U.S. labor and suppliers,” said Jorge Guerra, Efacec U.S. Operations Chief Operating Officer. “Our U.S. plant remains in a very special, select group of top-level transformer manufacturers worldwide.”
GSU transformers are used to increase the voltage of electricity that generators produce to the appropriate levels for transmission to areas serving consumers.
Efacec’s state-of-the-art plant is the only manufacturing plant in the U.S. to fully design and manufacture transformers using both core and shell technologies. To date, Efacec’s transformer plant in Rincon, Ga. has successfully manufactured 58 core units and seven shell units with over 8,800 MVA since opening in 2010. Last year it also delivered the first “disassociated phases” transformer; the technology allows shipping in four pieces to overcome transportation restrictions.
Over the years, Efacec has made huge investments in technology to become an industry world leader, not only in the power transformer sector but also in electric mobility, smart grid applications, switchgear, engineering, transportation and renewable energy. Efacec’s capability to provide technology integration sets it apart as a reliable partner of choice, offering solutions to face the new energy infrastructure that is now being shaped.
About Efacec
Group Efacec, formed in 1948, is a leader in the field of electricity. Based in Portugal, it employs almost 5,000 people in 65 countries. Efacec has been serving U.S. customers since 1998. In 2007, Efacec established its headquarters for North America in Norcross, Ga. Its North American operations include three companies: Efacec USA, Inc., Efacec Power Transformers, Inc., and Efacec Advanced Control Systems, Inc. (ACS.) More information is available at www.efacecusa.com.
Media Contact for Efacec:
Terri Thornton
Thornton Communications
Phone: +1 (404) 932-4347
