Recovery Transformer (RecX)
Extra high voltage (EHV) transformers are critical components of our nation’s backbone transmission grid. Approximately 90 percent of consumed power flows through the transmission grid and through such a transformer. These EHV transformers are very large, challenging to transport, and often have lengthy procurement times of one year or greater. The transformers are also subject to a number of vulnerabilities such as natural disasters, solar storms, or man-made attacks.
To address this risk to the grid, S&T’s Resilient Systems Division has designed, developed, and demonstrated a prototype Recovery Transformer (RecX), a mobile spare transformer designed to be rapidly deployed in the event of a transformer failure. The RecX was successfully fielded in 2012 with a pilot demonstration that transported, installed, and energized the prototypes in less than six days as compared to two months or more using conventional methods.
The RecX program has produced a final report discussing lessons learned, functional specifications for recovery transformers, evaluations of existing spare transformer strategies, and considerations for develop new ones.