Hitachi Energy plans to more than double its U.S. production capacity of small and medium-sized power transformers with a new, $528-million manufacturing facility in Gallman, Mississippi, the company announced Tuesday.
The new Gallman facility will produce transformers in the 10 MVA to 160 MVA range, designed for voltages up to 230 kV, Greg Callahan, Hitachi senior vice president and head of its transformer business in North America, told Utility Dive in an email. The plant will be more than twice the size of the company’s current Crystal Springs, Mississippi, facility, “enabling a significant increase in transformer production,” he said.
“While we do not disclose our production volumes (by facility), the size of the investment reflects the scale of the expansion,” Callahan said.
The Gallman facility marks Zurich-based Hitachi Energy’s largest single investment in the U.S., bringing its manufacturing expansion commitment in the country to around $1.5 billion, the company said. It is also expanding production capacity at facilities in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee.
The company plans to begin production in 2029, and the additional capacity “is expected to help alleviate industry-wide supply constraints as it comes online,” Callahan said.
Backlogs for transformers and other grid equipment are slowing expansion of the power grid at a time when data centers, manufacturing and electrification are rapidly increasing demand for electricity.
“The transformer industry continues to experience strong demand,” Callahan said.
Once the new factory is completed, transformer production will transition from the Crystal Springs facility to Gallman, the company said.
Hitachi Energy customer lead times “vary depending on transformer specifications, project complexity, and market conditions,” Callahan noted. “Expanding manufacturing capacity is an important step toward increasing supply and improving responsiveness to customer demand over the long term.”
