Denmark’s government has put up the tender for the first of three wind farms, aimed at turning Denmark into a net-zero emissions society by 2050.

The wind farm, named Thor after the nearby village of Thorsminde, will be situated in the North Sea, approximately 20 km offshore in Jutland, and will be the biggest offshore wind farm in Denmark.

The wind farm will have a capacity of between 800 MW and 1,000 MW and will supply electricity to 800,000 households. The wind turbines at Thor are expected to have a wing diameter of 164 m and a capacity of 13 MW to 15 MW.

Thor will be tendered during 2019 and is expected to be connected to the grid between 2024 and 2027.

The winning tender will be responsible for developing and establishing everything from the wind farm to the transformer stations for connection to the onshore electricity grid. The state-owned Energinet will be responsible only for establishing and operating the onshore grid connection.

Source: International Law Office

Image for illustrative purposes

Demands and changes caused by the increasing electrification of transportation and heating in the United States will require transmission infrastructure and distribution upgrades totalling $30 B to $90 B by 2030 with an additional $200 B to $600 B needed between 2030 and 2050.

Those statistics come from a new report prepared by The Brattle Group for WIRES, a trade association that advocates for transmission investment. The study estimates that the number of electric vehicles on the road will jump from one million today to seven million by 2025 and increase exponentially from there.

Demand will also come from changes in residential and business heating as more electric heat pumps are used throughout the U.S., not just in warmer climates. The report notes that technology advances could also lead to more electrification of many industrial processes.

Based on the average annual transmission investment over the past 10 years, the report projects investment levels would be 20 % to 50 % higher through 2030—or about $3 B to $7 B more spent each year. Those numbers increase significantly from 2030 through 2050, requiring a 50 % to 170 % increase in transmission investment, or between $7 B and $25 B a year.

Source: Commercial Property Executive

Siemens is introducing the company’s first U.S. offering that allows utilities and generation owners to lease a PRETACT® Plug & Play GSU Resilience Transformer when it is needed for outage or emergency response.

With this on-demand access, asset owners can quickly replace an out-of-service transformer across several voltage ratings and configurations to restore power quickly for customers.

The GSU Resilience Transformer is easy to load and ship and its plug and play bushings do not require time consuming installation. The transformer is also designed with environmentally-friendly synthetic ester fluid so it can be installed near water or other sensitive areas.

The Pretact® concept of Siemens Transmission Products was introduced to maximize the resilience of modern power grids. It has a comprehensive set of modular features to prevent and protect transformers and high-voltage products better from both the operational issues and also against natural disasters or forced outages. In addition, highly flexible “mobile resilience units” provide a possibility of quick reaction in case of an emergency or planned maintenance.

Source: Siemens, Transformer Magazine

Tata Steel is considering selling its Trostre steel packaging plant in Llanelli if it mergers with German steel giant ThyssenKrupp to appease the EU.

Tata Steel has two steel packaging plants in Trostre and Duffel in Belgium which employ over 1,000 workers combined making food and aerosol cans. They have already put the specialist electric steel venture Cogent, based in Newport, up for sale.

During the process, worker’s union Unite expressed their concern over the workers and their jobs.

Unite’s national officer for steel, Tony Brady said: “We are aware that the European Commission is likely to order Tata Steel to sell some of its packaging operations so that the much needed joint venture with ThyssenKrupp gets the green light. Unite is monitoring the situation and engaging with Tata Steel as we seek to ensure that workers are not left high and dry or subject to any fire sale as a result of a European Commission ruling.”

A Tata spokesperson said: “Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp are committed to following due process with the directorate-general for competition to seek approval for the proposed joint venture of their European steel businesses. Both companies are committed to working closely with all relevant regulators to ensure the success of this transaction.”

Source: Wales Online, Transformer Magazine article

A distribution transformer provides the final voltage transformation in the electric power distribution system by reducing the high voltage current from a power line to a lower voltage for use in a building. The Department of Energy (DOE) has regulated the energy efficiency level of low-voltage dry-type distribution transformers since 2007. Beginning in 2016, there will be newly amended, federally mandated, energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers. MGM Transformer Company is at the forefront of this new standard and will be offering the new efficiencies on its products starting on January 1, 2016. This ruling applies to three phase low voltage dry-type general purpose distribution transformers manufactured starting on January 1, 2016. Transformers that meet the current efficiency requirements in the U.S. (NEMA TP-1) that are physically in the U.S. can continue to be legally sold and installed after January 1, 2016. This includes units stored at manufacturers’ warehouses, distributor stock, job sites, etc.

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Comparison of various efficiency standards: NEMA TP-1, NEMA PREMIUM CSL-3 & DOE 2016

The table below lists the minimum efficiencies of low-voltage dry-type three phase distribution transformers required for their kVA rating. The standards for transformers manufactured on or after January 1, 2007 are known as NEMA TP-1 (or Energy Star labeled). On May of 2010 The NEMA CSL-3 standards were introduced with higher efficiency ratings than NEMA TP-1. The benefits of CSL-3 transformers are reduced electrical & heat losses, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), greater energy savings and green/LEED design. These features are beneficial for data centers, healthcare installations, schools & colleges, green applications, LEED buildings and government projects. The CSL-3 efficiency standard was never federally mandated. Transformers manufactured on or after January 1, 2016 are required to meet the minimum DOE 2016 efficiencies listed below. These standards will be federally mandated.

KVA (Three Phase)	NEMA TP-1 (Energy Star) Federally Mandated	NEMA PREMIUM CSL-3* Not Federally Mandated	DOE 2016 Standards Federally Mandated
15 kVA	97.0	97.90	97.89
30 kVA	97.5	98.25	98.23
45 kVA	97.7	98.39	98.40
75 kVA;	98.0	98.60	98.60
112.5 kVA	98.2	98.74	98.74
150 kVA	98.3	98.81	98.83
225 kVA	98.5	98.95	98.94
300 kVA	98.6	99.02	99.02
500 kVA	98.7	99.09	99.14
750 kVA	98.8	99.16	99.23
1000 kVA	98.9	99.23	99.28

 

* Published CSL-3 efficiency percentages may vary by manufacturers.

Note: All efficiency values are at 35 percent of nameplate-rated load, determined according to the DOE Test Method for Measuring the Energy Consumption of Distribution Transformers under Appendix A to Subpart K of 10 CFR part 431.

With its main manufacturing plant in the Los Angeles area, MGM Transformer Company proudly complies with all “Buy U.S.” statutes such as Buy America, Buy American, ARRA, BAA and SPPA.

MGM Transformer Company can manufacture your units at our 120,000 square foot plant in the U.S. and source the raw materials solely from American companies if required. By doing so we can certify your units to be compliant with any of the various “Buy U.S.” statutes listed below (either state or federal). Please make sure to specify your requirements at the time of order.

TAA (Trade Agreements Act)

The Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA), is an Act of Congress that governs trade agreements negotiated between the U.S. and other countries. The TAA can restrict procurement of goods and services for federal contracts, if the program management office decides to check TAA compliance. In many ways the TAA supersedes the Buy American Act, because the TAA allows the President to waive the Buy American Act under certain conditions. Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 25.4 includes guidance for TAA compliance. In general, a product is “TAA compliant” if it’s made in the United States or a “Designated Country.”

SPPA 73 P.S. 1881 (Steel Products Procurement Act)

The Pennsylvania Steel Products Procurement Act, requires every “public agency” within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which enters into a contract “for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, improvement or maintenance of public works,” to include a contract provision that “only steel products as herein defined shall be used or supplied in the performance of the contract…” As defined by the Act, the comprehensive term “steel products” includes products rolled, formed, shaped, drawn, extruded, forged, cast, fabricated or otherwise similarly processed, or processed by a combination of two or more of such operations, from steel made in the United States by the open hearth, basic oxygen, electric furnace, Bessemer or other steel making process.

The OSHPD Special Seismic Certification Preapproval (OSP) is a voluntary program for review and pre-approval of Special Seismic Certifications to be used in health facilities construction in California.

MGM is proud to announce that both our Unit Substation and General Purpose style transformers have been certified by OSHPD (the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development). OSHPD is the governing agency for hospital construction in California and are known for requiring the HIGHEST building standard available. Some of their requirements include a mandate that critical electrical equipment (transformers being one of them) remain fully operational following a tri-axle shake table test which simulates a very large seismic event. Manufacturers must perform this dynamic test (or shake table test) on all the products they wish to certify. The transformers must then pass all ANSI tests as if nothing happened. A full scale report (in accordance with OSHPD standards) is then generated stating the unit has passed and is seismically qualified. Our certification can be seen at www.oshpd.ca.gov/fdd/Pre-Approval/OSP-0056-10.pdf

Using the seismic kits below you can retrofit your new general purpose style transformer(s) to become OSHPD certified:

KIT NUMBER	CASE SIZE
ESP-621	Cases: A, B, B+, C, C+
ESP-622	Cases: D and E

The California / International Building Codes (CBC/IBC) require all stationary equipment to be anchored to its supporting
structure (CBC 2007, Section 1613a & IBC 2006, Section 1613). In addition, much of this equipment must have
calculations to validate its method of anchorage (ASCE 7-05, Section 13.1.4).
California Building Code of 2010 (CBC 2010) went into effect on January 1st, 2011. The new code is based on the 2009
IBC and ASCE/SEI 7-05.

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