Every unit of electricity entering a data center has a job to do. Ideally, all of that energy would reach the servers, storage systems, and networking equipment that perform the computing work we all rely on. In reality, electricity passes through a long chain of equipment before it reaches the
Artificial intelligence is changing the way companies think about data centers. It’s also changing the way utilities, developers, and manufacturers think about power. AI data centers require enormous amounts of electricity. The International Energy Agency projects global data center electricity consumption will more than double by 2030, with AI as
New data centers are being built across North America at an incredible pace, and the scale of these projects continues to grow. It’s not unusual to see multiple facilities under construction at the same time, each one requiring large power transformers to support continuous operation once they come online. For
Data centers are putting a different kind of pressure on power infrastructure. They don’t really have “peaks” and “valleys” the way other operations do. Once they’re online, they’re pulling steady loads all the time, and the expectation is simple: no fluctuations, and no surprises. Transformers are a big part of
Large power transformers are not equipment that can be adjusted, recalibrated, or easily replaced once they are in service. By the time a unit is energized, it has already moved through years of planning, engineering, manufacturing, transportation, and installation. Utilities and manufacturers alike expect that when the switch is finally
Many times, large power transformer contamination problems don’t necessarily look like problems at all. In large power transformer core manufacturing, the biggest risks are often small and easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for. A tiny burr of steel, about the size of a fingernail clipping,
By the time a large power transformer reaches final assembly, expectations are already high. Schedules have little to no wiggle room, and any delay or surprise ripples quickly through the rest of the build. What’s less visible is how much of that pressure is eased (or intensified) long before the
It’s hard not to notice how much has changed in the large power transformer world this year. Demand kept rising, projects kept increasing, and the grid continued modernizing. None of that was a surprise, but what did evolve this year was the understanding of what it actually takes to keep
When winter sets in, the grid shifts from routine operation to endurance mode. Demand climbs, equipment ages one season faster, and every component is expected to perform as if nothing has changed. It’s a rhythm utilities know all too well. During the deep freeze of February 2021, temperature rapidly fell,
Every substation, every hospital, every neighborhood powered by reliable electricity has something in common: at the center of the system lies a transformer core. So what separates a dependable transformer core from one that only looks the part? Just like a recipe that tastes the same every time you make
