Virginia Transformer officially inaugurated its fifth manufacturing facility in North America. The new plant, located in Chihuahua, Mexico, has been in operation since October 2022 and was officially opened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Virginia Transformer CEO/CTO Prabhat Jain, company customers, sales representatives, vendors, employees, and state and elected officials including Chihuahua mayor, Marco Bonilla and ministers.
The new plant is the most technologically advanced transformer facility for reliability in North America and will further extend the company’s leadership in having the shortest lead times in the industry. Virginia Transformer can deliver a made-to-specification, state-of-the-art transformer in less than half the time of its competitors.
“Virginia Transformer is thankful that our customers, representatives, vendors, and the governor and mayor were able to join us in this celebration,” said Prabhat Jain. “We have a new generation facility led by dedicated employees, building upon the more than 50-year legacy of excellence, all with a focus on serving our customers.
“To see the faces of our employees on this special day – opening the best transformer facility in North America and knowing it will create good jobs and contribute to the community and the industry is equally gratifying,” said Jain. “The process from concept to production took only 15 months. The Chihuahua team pulled together to make this happen and it is wonderful to see the pride they take in serving our customers throughout North America.”
The new plant (P2) is situated on 300,000 square feet with room for expansion. It joins Virginia Transformer’s original Chihuahua plant (P1), which opened in 1995. The new facility employs more than 450 people, including more than 100 engineers.
The plant has enormous capabilities and was designed for flexibility. It includes an in-house advanced design center, vapor-phase drying ovens, and an automated test lab. The new facility is fully temperature- and humidity-controlled and features:
- Four production lines for E2X oil-filled transformers up to 7 MVA.
- Dry-type transformers up to 7 MVA, 35 kV, 150 BIL.
- Integrated Power Module (IPM) production.
- Heavy-duty robotic carts for material delivery to shop floor, coil and core landing, and transformer transport through to final assembly (no forklifts).
- A class-7 clean room for the winding and assembly process.
The new Chihuahua P2 capability is up to 100 MVA, 950 BIL for utility, industrial and renewable markets.
Virginia Transformer, with a capacity of 67000 MVA, is the largest US manufacturer of Power Transformers in North America, with facilities in Pocatello, Idaho; Rincon, Georgia; Roanoke, Virginia; and now two plants in Chihuahua, Mexico.
