New Delhi: The transmission industry needs to move to committed partnership and capacity expansion to solve the issue of long supply waiting periods due to rising equipment demand, especially those of high-voltage transformers, Hitachi Energy CEO Andreas Schierenbeck told ET.
Zurich-headquartered Hitachi Energy operates in India through its arm Hitachi Energy India and provides products ranging from power cooling systems to transformers, apart from its newly launched services and consulting verticals.
"Expansion is the only real solution," Schierenbeck said, noting that scaling up transformer manufacturing is time-consuming and expensive.
After two decades of muted investment, the sudden demand rise in transmission capacities across the world is shifting the approach towards cutting down the lead time in supplying equipment, he said.
The industry was largely unprepared for the scale of growth now underway, having underestimated both the pace of the energy transition and the explosive rise of data centres.
For years, data centres were seen as relatively small consumers of power-typically 20-30 MW-but the emergence of AI-driven facilities demanding 500 MW to 1 GW has taken everyone by surprise, he said.
According to the International Energy Agency, prices and procurement times for essential components like power transformers and cables have almost doubled in four years, creating significant hurdles for grid developers.
While expanding such transmission equipment capacities companies want to have a bankable business case for which framework agreement would be the best, else it would take a longer period of delivery, Schierenbeck said.
Hitachi Energy has announced major investments of more than $250 million by 2027 to expand global production of critical components for transformers in addition to $6 billion investment across the company portfolio. India story
India remains a bright spot for the company with its policies supporting renewable energy integration, he said.
"The Indian energy policy is a very good policy and shows an integrated picture based on renewables, integrating the grid and having a lot of HVDC connections, so it is very good to see that. And it shows we will grow in this market for the next 10-15 years," he said.
It had last year announced a ₹2,000 crore investment majorly for capacity expansion of the large power transformers factory, upgraded testing capabilities for specialty transformers at the small power transformers and the relocation of the bushings factory.
"I think India is at par with the biggest growing economies in the world. And so from that point, it's the right place to be here," Schierenbeck said.
The company exports around 25% of what it manufactures in India.
The data centre expansion is a big opportunity for the company in India and GIS technology is a big component, which is likely to have a good demand as well.
"Every dollar that goes into data centre build up, 15-20% of that is our addressable market," Venu Nuguri, managing director and CEO, India and South Asia, said.
The company sees good growth globally and in India in the demand for statcoms, a device that regulates voltage and improves power quality, because it is necessary to improve the availability and the capacity of the cables, especially if you have a lot of renewables in the system.
Zurich-headquartered Hitachi Energy operates in India through its arm Hitachi Energy India and provides products ranging from power cooling systems to transformers, apart from its newly launched services and consulting verticals.
"Expansion is the only real solution," Schierenbeck said, noting that scaling up transformer manufacturing is time-consuming and expensive.
After two decades of muted investment, the sudden demand rise in transmission capacities across the world is shifting the approach towards cutting down the lead time in supplying equipment, he said.
The industry was largely unprepared for the scale of growth now underway, having underestimated both the pace of the energy transition and the explosive rise of data centres.
For years, data centres were seen as relatively small consumers of power-typically 20-30 MW-but the emergence of AI-driven facilities demanding 500 MW to 1 GW has taken everyone by surprise, he said.
According to the International Energy Agency, prices and procurement times for essential components like power transformers and cables have almost doubled in four years, creating significant hurdles for grid developers.
While expanding such transmission equipment capacities companies want to have a bankable business case for which framework agreement would be the best, else it would take a longer period of delivery, Schierenbeck said.
Hitachi Energy has announced major investments of more than $250 million by 2027 to expand global production of critical components for transformers in addition to $6 billion investment across the company portfolio. India story
India remains a bright spot for the company with its policies supporting renewable energy integration, he said.
"The Indian energy policy is a very good policy and shows an integrated picture based on renewables, integrating the grid and having a lot of HVDC connections, so it is very good to see that. And it shows we will grow in this market for the next 10-15 years," he said.
It had last year announced a ₹2,000 crore investment majorly for capacity expansion of the large power transformers factory, upgraded testing capabilities for specialty transformers at the small power transformers and the relocation of the bushings factory.
"I think India is at par with the biggest growing economies in the world. And so from that point, it's the right place to be here," Schierenbeck said.
The company exports around 25% of what it manufactures in India.
The data centre expansion is a big opportunity for the company in India and GIS technology is a big component, which is likely to have a good demand as well.
"Every dollar that goes into data centre build up, 15-20% of that is our addressable market," Venu Nuguri, managing director and CEO, India and South Asia, said.
The company sees good growth globally and in India in the demand for statcoms, a device that regulates voltage and improves power quality, because it is necessary to improve the availability and the capacity of the cables, especially if you have a lot of renewables in the system.
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