WEG Technology For South Africa Solar Farm

WEG has supplied 10 custom-designed transformers for a solar power generating facility recently developed by a South African gold mine. The site is generating 40 MW of renewable energy. Each WEG transformer has a capacity of 5 MVA. The transformers will step up from 690 V current to 11 kV. The equipment features a dual input, single output configuration, allowing one transformer to be fed by a number of string inverters through the dual input.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) project uses ester oil, rather than oil from hydrocarbons, as a coolant in the transformers. From an environmental point of view, ester oil does not carry the risk of contaminating land or water if it happens to leak from the transformer, being a more sustainable option. Operationally speaking, it is also able to withstand higher temperatures without degrading, the company said.

The transformers for this PV project were manufactured at the WEG’s Wadeville factory in South Africa.