Building tomorrow’s power grid

Across the globe, rapid electrification, the integration of renewables, global supply chain pressures, and increasing climate volatility are reshaping energy systems. As the world demands more from power grids – more capacity, more sustainability, more resilience – grid operators are looking for more than incremental improvements. The energy supercycle the world is facing requires innovation that addresses today’s challenges while anticipating future needs.

As a global leader in electrification, Hitachi Energy has emerged as a catalyst, advancing practical, future-focused technologies in close collaboration with customers and other industry stakeholders to meet changing demands.

“Meeting the current energy industry challenges is not just a question of capacity – it’s about doing things differently and doing them better. From transformer breakthroughs to digital and mobile solutions, at Hitachi Energy, we are co-creating innovative solutions with utilities and developers to address the pressure points that define today’s energy landscape”, explains Bruno Melles, Managing Director for the Transformers Business Unit at Hitachi Energy.

Transformers sit at the core of every electrical network. A single transformer may serve hundreds of thousands of customers, making reliability, safety, and environmental performance non-negotiable.

A key advancement in the realm of safety and sustainability is the introduction of the world’s first 765-kilovolt (kV) / 400 kV single phase 250 Megavolt Ampere (MVA) natural ester-filled transformer – a milestone for high-voltage alternating current (AC) transmission. This pioneering transformer uses natural ester fluid derived from renewable plant-based sources rather than traditional mineral oil.

Natural esters are biodegradable and have a flash point nearly twice that of mineral oil, making them significantly safer and more sustainable than traditional alternatives. In the event of a leak or spill, these fluids biodegrade by nearly 100 percent within 28 days – an essential consideration in ecologically sensitive or densely populated regions.

This new transformer also features rupture-resistant TXpand™ technology, further enhancing its safety profile. It’s a breakthrough that demonstrates how utilities can achieve performance, safety, and sustainability in one package. With units already deployed in over 40 countries, ester-based solutions offer a practical path to developing a more resilient grid.

Even as utilities modernize infrastructure, increasingly frequent, unplanned events – wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and equipment failures – continue to pose significant risks to grid reliability and drive a new wave of interest in mobile transformers.

Hitachi Energy’s high-capacity, rapidly deployable mobile transformers are pre-positioned in regional hubs and can be dispatched within weeks to restore power following equipment failure or during planned maintenance. Unlike conventional transformers, mobile units are engineered for transport, featuring low-profile, compact designs and multi-voltage capabilities that make them versatile across a wide range of grid scenarios.

One example is the development of a 168 MVA mobile transformer with Avangrid. The unit is stored at a Hitachi Energy facility and supported through a turnkey operating model; Hitachi Energy manages the full deployment process – from permitting and transport logistics to on-site installation – minimizing downtime for our customers without them needing to build in-house expertise.

Whether as bridging assets helping projects stay on schedule or as temporary emergency replacements, these units provide exceptional flexibility and speed – making them a critical part of today’s resilient grid toolkit.