Featured in Powering Through – 05-2025

Transformer bottleneck

You can build an entire energy infrastructure project and still wait years to flip the switch. In today’s market, it’s not the modules or permitting that cause the longest delays. Clean Energy Associates’ (CEA) Eddy Ji explains how high demand for transformers and other essential grid infrastructure equipment is slowing things down.

By

pv magazine

02 May 2025

Transformer procurement is a deciding factor in whether a project can finish on time. | Photo: Magnolia 677/Wikimedia Commons

Lead times for medium-voltage and high-voltage transformers have ballooned from a few months to two or three years, and sometimes even longer. These system components, once considered routinely available, now represent one of the most serious bottlenecks in commercial and utility-scale solar development. Developers face a stark choice: pay a premium for scarce domestic inventory …

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