Multinational Siemens Energy designs in Brazil and launches innovative transformer globally, with a high level of fire safety and no risk of explosion, aimed at the electrical grid of the entire region of the Americas

Cast resin-based distribution transformer, manufactured by the multinational Siemens Energy, has high mechanical resistance that protects against corrosion and a useful life of over 25 years

The multinational Siemens Energy launched its CAREPOLE single-phase transformer globally^TM dry type for installation on poles. Designed in Brazil for the grid technology requirements of the entire Americas region, the new cast resin-based distribution transformer offers a reliable and sustainable alternative to oil-filled transformers.

According to Siemens, in Brazil's electrical grid, single-phase transformers are often installed in the distribution network, where – as the last step in the energy transmission chain – they step down the voltage to the level of household voltage. Due to the increase in extreme weather events, such as heat waves that caused forest fires, the design of new assets installed outdoors needs to be increasingly focused on their resilience to withstand environmental risks. Due to its oil-free, dry cast resin-based design, the self-extinguishing CAREPOLE transformer has a high level of fire safety and has no risk of explosion, which reduces environmental risks to a minimum.

“For a successful energy transition, we need to rethink the power grid also with the intention of making it greener and strengthening its resilience. With our pole-mount dry transformer, we are not only closing a market gap in the Americas region, we are also introducing a maintenance-free alternative to oil-filled transformers that allows for a greener, more reliable and cost-effective operation of the distribution network,” says Eduardo Terzi, Senior Vice President of Switchless Products at Siemens Energy. 

CAREPOLE is designed to handle high overloads

Considering the increasing energy demand and the fluctuating supply of renewable energy, the new transformer is designed to handle high overloads to facilitate balancing the power flow and meet the real-time demand at any time. Sealed with vacuum-cast resin, the transformer's compact windings allow for approximately 20% less volume than a conventional, pole-mount, liquid-filled transformer.

The high mechanical resistance of the CAREPOLE structure and the cast resin protect the transformer against corrosion and prolong the life of the transformer. At the same time, it prevents copper and aluminum thieves from destroying transformers, putting themselves and others at risk. The new transformer is designed as a plug-and-play feature, with the same fastening mechanism as fluid-immersed transformers, and is therefore perfectly suited to replace existing installations.

Depending on the customer's need, Siemens Energy's Sensformer digital transformer solution can also be added to CAREPOLE to optimize operations and further increase its reliability. Equipped with an intelligent IoT gateway, the transformer can transmit end-to-end encrypted data to an analytics and visualization platform. As a result, operators benefit from real-time information on the condition and health of assets and the status of the network. Thanks to these digital capabilities, faults can be located and corrected more quickly or often even avoided by identifying operational irregularities at an early stage.

CAREPOLE is rated between 10 and 100 kilovolt-amps (kVa), rated for voltages between 15 and 36 kV, and has a typical service life of over 25 years.