KUALA LUMPUR: SGB MY Sdn Bhd, a unit under Germany-based SGB SMIT Group, is expecting the venture into aluminium oval transformers in Malaysia to contribute positive revenue growth by the end of this year.
Managing director Franz Hierz said the company is also expecting its aluminium transformer to be widely accepted in other countries in this region, the Indian sub-continents, Australia and the Middle East.
"Aluminium has been used to replace copper, thus offering customers a more viable option due to the significant cost advantage it offers as compared to copper.
"The aluminium oval transformer has made a huge impact on the European market and is now ready to make its debut with a big bang in Malaysia and the Asian region," he said during the introduction of the aluminium oval transformer at the Powering Energy Efficiency Conference held here recently.
He said copper and aluminium have been used as conductors of electricity and have a long history of being used as winding conductors for transformers.
"Aluminium windings have been proven to be as reliable as and performance-equivalent to copper, but, weighing less than copper this makes aluminium well suited for those specific applications where aluminium oval transformers are installed in the grid," said Hierz.
The conference was attended by more than 250 participants from local and overseas utility companies, oil and gas, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and private customers.
Two main speakers from Germany, Achim Huebner of E.ON Global Category Lead Transformer, and Dr Jan Declercq, Group research and development manager of SGB-SMIT, shared the success of the usage of the aluminium oval transformers in several countries in Europe and also in the US during the conference.
Chairman of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) from the Government of UAE Dr. Rashid Alleem was also invited to share the government authority’s experience in turnaround of SEWA.
SGB MY, established in 1994 and based in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, currently manufactures and sells oil distribution, cast resin, and power transformers.
Its parent company, SGB–SMIT Group, has successfully manufactured thousands of transformers with aluminium windings and these units have been in the network for many years.
"Our Malaysia plant also offers after sales service, such as repairs, refurbishment, and overhaul, throughout Malaysia as well as for Malaysia’s export markets," he said.
Annually, the Nilai plant has the capability of producing approximately 2,400 oil distribution and pad-mounted transformers with a capacity of 50 - 5,000 Kva per unit, 60 power transformers up to 40 MVA and 72.5 Kv per unit, 1,800 cast resin transformers with a capacity of 150 - 6,300 kVA and up to 36kV per unit and 300 compact substations of up to 3,000kVA per unit.
SGB MY products are sold to utilities, engineering, procurement and construction contractors in Malaysia as well on the export markets which cover Asia, US, the Middle East and parts of Europe.
Apart from the Nilai plant, SGB–SMIT Group, which has become the leading medium-sized manufacturer of transformers in Europe, has numerous manufacturing plants namely in Regensburg, Neumark, Sachsen in Germany, Nijmegen in The Netherlands, Louisville in USA and Sibiu in Romania.
It has more than 100 years of combined experience, has produced vast quantities of transformers and operates from nine sites in five countries.