Trafo Power Solutions was established to cater for the growing appetite and scope for the application of dry-type transformers on the African continent. These power solutions are suitable across a wide range of industry sectors including mining.

The company offers a range of dry-type, or cast-resin, transformer products from the 100-year-old, Toronto-based Hammond Power Solutions (HPS), acknowledged leaders in this increasingly popular technology.

Dry-type transformers have been around since early last century but, owing to the higher cost of their traditional process of manufacture, they were not as widely used. Today, this price differential is no longer significant, opening the door for users to benefit from the numerous benefits of dry-type transformers.

Among the advantages of dry-type transformer technology is that it is safer, so units can be installed indoors, in basements, or in other confined spaces. The dangers associated with oil in a transformer require this equipment to be located outdoors, and invariably within a structure built specifically for this purpose. Even risks that are external to the unit itself, such as a fire in the building, precludes the possibility of locating an oil-cooled transformer indoors.

While climate considerations in Africa’s mining sector have not demanded a special solution, dry-type transformers are gaining traction as their design and manufacturing advances have brought about price parity.

With the rise in awareness of safety at work – across the globe and in all sectors of the economy – there has been a trend towards safer technologies. Dry-cooled transformers are categorised as F1 in terms of international fire resistance ratings, making them low risk as they are self-extinguishing and flame-retardant by nature.

Reduced energy consumption is another factor that has attracted attention to these units in new markets, especially as electricity prices in South Africa have rocketed over the past decade.