This Essential Element of the Power Grid Is in Critically Short Supply

The demand for transformers has spiked worldwide, and so the wait time to get a new transformer has doubled from 50 weeks in 2021 to nearly two years now, according to a report from Wood MacKenzie, an energy-analytics firm. The wait for the more specialized large power transformers (LPTs), which step up voltage from power stations to transmission lines, is up to four years. Costs have also climbed by 60 to 80 percent since 2020.