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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

WEG Transformers USA Expands Washington, Missouri, Plant

09/03/2020
WEG Transformers USA, a provider of global solutions for electric motors, variable frequency drives, soft starters, controls, panels, transformers, and generators, reportedly purchased the former 147,000-square-foot Melton Machine & Control factory in Washington, Missouri. The company plans to convert it into a transformer manufacturing factory.

WEG officials said the $16.5 million expansion would enable the company to expand services to utility, industrial, and renewable energy companies it serves. It is also expected to result in the hiring of 64 associates over the next six years.

“It is important to note that we are not only talking about 34.5 kV step-up transformers for wind turbines or solar inverters, but also of power transformers in the voltage classes of 138 to 500 kV, with powers up to 300 MVA. This is changing the landscape of WEG's participation in the renewable energy market, reaching not only the energy generation and distribution market, but also the transmission. Therefore, we are positioning ourselves as one of the key players in this growing market for the generation of clean energy in North America, explains Carlos Diether Prinz, Managing Director of WEG Transmission & Distribution, said on the company’s website.

The new plant, where WEG will produce three-phase utility pad-mounted distribution transformers, is scheduled to open early next year. In addition, WEG will also upgrade an existing plant in the area to produce transformers and substations; pad-mounted transformers, secondary unit substations, and station transformers.

“The growth potential of renewable sources in the United States is very large and the country has made rapid progress on this path. WEG has been helping to change the country's energy landscape by delivering transformers in the most varied power and voltage classes,” company officials said in an earlier press release.

“With two factories specialized in the assembly, supervision and commissioning of distribution and power transformers up to 60 MVA - 161 kV in Washington, Missouri, USA., and two other transformer manufacturing units in Mexico, WEG is well positioned to capitalize on the US renewable energy sector and already has a good portfolio of orders for 2024 in the country.”

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