Trafo powers mine in Pakistan with transformers for extreme conditions

Electrical Power & Protection

June 2026 Electrical Power & Protection

South Africa-based Trafo Power Solutions is boosting the power infrastructure of a mining project in Pakistan, being built on one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold reserves.

Trafo Power Solutions is supplying 13 dry-type transformers for e-houses at the remote project site on behalf of one of the project’s contractors. The site is in the Chagai district of Balochistan, near the Afghanistan and Iran borders, in an arid to semi-arid region marked by deserts, mountains, sparse vegetation and frequent dust storms.

According to David Claassen, managing director of Trafo Power Solutions, the transformers have been designed to meet the challenges of this remote and demanding mining environment. “The range of dry-type transformers that we are supplying to this copper-gold project include smaller isolation transformers rated at 5 kVA, lighting transformers of 75 kVA, and larger units of between 250 kVA and 1000 kVA for power distribution functions,” Claassen says.

While Trafo Power Solutions has designed the transformers for indoor operation in the e-houses, the high ambient temperatures of the site have been taken into account. The design therefore caters for daytime temperatures of over 50°C with Class H insulation.

“To improve the turnaround time, we manufactured the enclosures in South Africa. These could be flat-packed for easier logistical handling to site,” he explains. “The dry-type transformers themselves were shipped by our manufacturing partners, TMC Transformers in Italy, directly to the site in Pakistan.”

He highlights that while the manufacturing of the transformers takes place in Italy, Trafo Power Solutions conducts the factory acceptance testing with the customer. The order also includes 18 neutral earth resistors, or NERs, which are connected to the star point of the transformers to limit the earth fault current. “We are supplying a number of 690 V air-type NERs, as well as 11 kV NERs which are rated at 300 amps for 10 seconds. They are also capable of operating in air temperatures of up to 50°C,” says Claassen.

He points to the reliability of dry-type transformers as an important benefit to users on remote sites such as this one in Pakistan, as well as the limited maintenance they require. Unlike conventional oil-cooled transformers, where the oil needs regular testing and replacement, dry-type units are air cooled and seldom require any active maintenance.

With its depth of experience in installing and commissioning its transformers and other electrical power solutions, Trafo Power Solutions supports the customer during these phases and will provide future technical support. “We will work closely with our EPC customer, who is installing the e-houses to ensure that the transformers are adequately protected from severe external environment conditions such as heat and dust,” he says. “This ensures that the transformers require minimal attention after being commissioned, limiting the need for anyone to undertake the costly and time consuming journey to the site. This factor further reduces the total cost of ownership of these units over their operating lifetime.”

For more information contact Trafo Power Solutions, +27 11 325 4007, [email protected], www.trafo.co.za

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Electrical Power & Protection

Trafo powers mine in Pakistan with transformers for extreme conditions

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