Transforming the transformer industry

Smart Transformers Empower Asset Uptime: Cutting-Edge AI, Cloud, and Big Data Drive Efficiency, Cost Savings, and Reliability.

Anant Krishna Waghchoure, Motwane Manufacturing Company Pvt Ltd Discusses Transformer Business Trends with EPR Magazine

What are some of smart transformers’ key features and benefits, and how are they transforming grid management?

The Smart Transformer is the latest innovation in maximising asset uptime. These use online techniques for informing about the transformer’s health, such as state-of-the-art technologies such as online monitoring, trending using AI and cloud/big data, facilitating fleet monitoring, and adequate decision-making in a way that saves a lot in terms of capex and opex and reduces breakdowns of the system, easing the life of the user/ utility/captive.

It helps in preventive maintenance and ensures higher uptime of the electrical infrastructure. It enhances the safety and life of the electrical assets—essential savings in shutting down and transforming periodic condition monitoring to condition-based monitoring. Thus, effectively utilising an expert workforce only on the transformer that needs attention and shut down, saving time on a healthy transformer using the latest technology.

To summarise, the technology will benefit in terms of:

• Savings on capital invested and a significant reduction in loss of cash
• Identifying assets that require maintenance
• Saving in testing and maintenance time and cost
• Ensuring higher asset life and uptime of electrical infrastructure.

How are government initiatives and regulations influencing the transformer industry in India, particularly in terms of energy efficiency standards and localisation?

Government policies in India are significantly shaping the transformer industry, pushing it towards two key goals: increased energy efficiency and a more robust domestic manufacturing base. Here’s a breakdown of the influences:

Energy Efficiency Standards: The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Standards & Labeling Program mandates energy efficiency labelling for transformers. This incentivises manufacturers to produce and consumers to choose transformers that waste less energy during operation.

Localisation (Make in India): Initiatives like “Make in India” promote domestic transformer manufacturing. This reduces reliance on imports, boosts local production capacity, and creates jobs.

Schemes like the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) focus on rural and urban infrastructure development. They create demand for new transformers, which ideally benefits domestic manufacturers.

Combined Impact: These initiatives work together to influence the transformer industry. By stressing efficiency, the government encourages innovation in transformer design and materials to reduce energy losses. Localisation policies, on the other hand, create a market for these efficient, domestically produced transformers.

Overall, government initiatives and regulations are pushing the Indian transformer industry towards an efficient and self-reliant future. However, overcoming costs and raw material challenges remains crucial for sustained growth.

What are some of the challenges that persist in the transformer industry despite technological advancements?

The transformer industry is in the hardcore electrical industry, and technology is tagging along with sensing technology, which is predominantly electronic. Thus, there is a dire need to tie up with leaders like Motwane, which gives the possibility of getting inputs to make the transformers smarter. Motwane is a 100 per cent ‘Make in India’ organisation and has a strong R&D base and expertise to provide solutions to such burning problems.  

What strategies do you apply to tap the transformer market in India?

Motwane has developed products with Bluetooth and cloud connectivity for transformer parameter measurement. At the same time, there is a platform designed for online data measurement that provides advanced analytics, residual life, fleet monitoring, trend analysis, hotspot analysis, and many more advanced analytical benefits. MOTWARE is the platform that provides accurate data with trending and analytics with the highest security and confidentiality to the end user and decision-makers.

We have developed a transformer test bench where all the parameters of transformer health can be checked sequentially. This saves testing time and connection time and provides a consolidated test report online to decision-makers and users. The data is acquired by the system and has a ‘0’ percent probability of changing the measurement readings at any level of the hierarchy, thus providing transparent and correct data on the measurement to the user as well as the decision-makers.

This is the first time in India that all the test equipment has cloud connectivity and a single platform for all data parameters to be collected and stored on a cloud platform, which also helps in data analytics. We have also added an oil testing facility to the test benches. Hence, it benefits the OEM testing setup and the transformer assets’ utility.

By providing such innovative products and software, we support the industry nationally and internationally.

What is your product specification in terms of sustainability and environmental concerns?

As the latest art of technology, it helps prevent accidents and thus helps the capex, opex, safety, carbon emissions, the profitability of the user, and the global economy. It saves on carbon emissions; hence, this product is directly/indirectly valuable for tackling environmental concerns.

Spokesperson:  Anant Krishna Waghchoure, National Sales Manager, Motwane Manufacturing Company Pvt Ltd