Dear Readers,

In the previous issue of Transformers Magazine, my message highlighted how the information on the technology and market trends that the magazine brings can help companies to stay updated and increase their ability to respond promptly to ever-changing requirements and conditions in the industry. Following this, I had discussions with people at some industry events who showed more interest in this, and held presentations on this matter. Considering the stirred interest, I would like to point to important aspects that emerged out of these discussions – one of which is the reliability of transformer operation.

I think there is some kind of a consensus that reliability is a number one requirement driving technology trends today, among other requirements such as extending asset lifetime, reducing operational costs and reducing the impact on the environment. For some applications there are equally important requirements that concern overloading capability, reduction of size/weight, enabling infeed of renewable energy, etc.

Coming back to reliability, let me quote a statement that was recently published in our magazine: ”Every day across the United States, half a million people on average are impacted by power outages, which carry an estimated annual cost of at least $150 billion and rising.”