GE Vernova to buy Trench Group for $9 billion to ease the transformer parts bottleneck
GE Vernova agreed on Oct. 28 to buy Berlin-based Trench Group from Triton Partners for $9 billion, taking over a major maker of high-voltage bushings, one of the parts that hold up large transformer deliveries in the US. Closing is planned for late 2027.
Trench builds bushings, instrument transformers and coils that go into transformers, switchgear, substations and HVDC lines. Its 11 factories in eight countries have a combined staff of over 3,000, according to GE Vernova, which plans to pay roughly half in cash and half in debt. The price is a dollar equivalent of a euro amount, so the final figure can move with exchange rates.
Trench's only US factory, a new plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, should start turning out bushings for up to 765 kV by late 2027, ENR reported. It is set up for as many as 3,500 bushings a year at first, with room for 10,000. A study paid for by the Department of Energy and cited by ENR found that a standard 100-MVA power transformer takes 2.5 to three years to procure and an extra-high-voltage unit up to five. Bushings were on its list of parts in short supply.
CEO Scott Strazik told investors GE Vernova now buys most of its transformer bushings from outside suppliers, and that bushings account for 5% to 8% of what goes into a transformer by cost. The company said Trench will keep selling to its existing customers. GE Vernova's order backlog in electrification stood at $46.1 billion when the third quarter closed, 55% higher than a year earlier, ENR reported.
Why it matters: Nothing changes on lead times until the Charlotte plant is running in late 2027. Electrical contractors pricing substation and data center work should keep planning around multi-year transformer deliveries and check whose bushings the specs call for.
Sources
- GE Vernova to acquire Trench GroupGE Vernova, Oct 28
- GE Vernova $9B Planned Buy of Trench Group Targets Grid Equipment CrunchENR, Oct 28