APC Media is delighted to bring you exclusive insights from the Coil Winding Exhibition (CWIEME), a premier event in the energy industry held in Berlin. As representatives of Transformer Technology, Power Systems Technology, and Women in Power Systems, we are honored to share the expert perspectives of Marcel Hilgers, a renowned industry leader from thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel. With their exceptional expertise as manufacturers of grain-oriented electrical steel, thyssenkrupp plays a pivotal role in the global production of transformers.

Here we delve into the valuable knowledge and expertise shared by Marcel Hilgers, offering you a comprehensive glimpse into the latest developments and trends shaping the energy industry. The CWIEME exhibition serves as an exceptional platform, uniting professionals and thought leaders from around the world, and we are dedicated to providing you with in-depth coverage of the discussions and advancements driving the industry forward.

What issues is the industry facing right now and how is thyssenkrupp looking to solve them? 

It’s the first day of Coil Winding exhibition here in Berlin. We're excited as every year to be here as thyssenkrupp electrical steel representing the grain oriented electrical steel manufacturing part of thyssenkrupp. Our customers are transformer makers. 95% of the product we make goes directly into transformers.

Like every year, we have scheduled around 100 meetings with customers from more than 30 countries so far. In addition, we hold two presentations at CWIEME center and e-mobility stage, join one panel discussion and host a customer event with more than 250 transformer and electricity industry experts and leaders.

I see that the industry, the customers, the visitors here at our stand, have two key priorities which I can identify. The first one is collaboration, and the second one is decarbonization.

In collaboration, the background is that we are in our industry in a massive phase of growth. Transformers are needed. Energy transition is not only talked about anymore, it is happening. Our customers products, transformers, are highly requested and thus of course, our product – grain oriented electrical steel. And this is happening on a global scale, with the major drivers today being Europe and North America, and of course there are many more, with a very big potential in other regions of the world. This requires new ways of working together, redefining how to grow together. Our industry was not really doing this for the last ten years and more. We were in a constant decline, more or less. But right now, we have been seeing a really big upwards movement and upwards challenge for around two years.

One question which I always have is if there is any reason to believe that this growth right now is different compared to what we have seen 2005-2009, where we had a steep drop afterwards. And keeping in mind all of the context of what I said before, yes, it is different. Right now there is sustainable growth because energy transition is actually happening, and with it the necessary investments into the grid, and thus transformers and electrical steel.

All of this requires new ways of collaboration when it comes to supply chains, material efficiency, regulations, bringing together utilities, transmission system operators, distribution system operators, transformer makers together with raw material suppliers. In the past, I've never really spoken to our customers’ customers (e.g. utilities, data center operators and others). This has completely changed. We are talking so much more to these companies about collaboration. We discus many important questions. Is material available? What kind of grades are available? What is the steel industry doing to support this growth in need and demand for transformers? The second topic they want to learn about are options for decarbonization of grid assets, more specifically transformers.

Please elaborate on that second topic – decarbonization.

MH: Decarbonization and sustainability are buzzwords which you hear everywhere right now. I have met so many sustainability managers here already, and two years ago, nobody even knew what that is, who that is. Also, my personal workload from two years ago has changed: Today 40% of my workload is connected to these topics. It's really massive and it feels good, because I really believe it's the right way to go, the thing we need to do. We need pioneering and collaboration again of raw material suppliers, transformer makers and utilities to make this happen, because regulation and politics are not fast enough for this. We as industry leaders have to act and get together, collaborate, and see what we can do to do the right things. As a company, thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel, we are offering solutions to decarbonize grid assets. CO2-reduced steel makes sense because steel has the biggest lever to decarbonize grid assets – it is a plug and play solution which, and this is important, is approved and certified by DNV and TÜV Süd.

More than 50% of a transformer itself has a footprint which is related to steel from cradle to gate. We can massively reduce this using the solutions we have and it is adapted more and more. We have various showcases presented here at our stand. You can see the cases of Siemens Energy, for example, with big utilities and transmission system operators like Amprion, massive projects here. Then you have SGB-SMIT together with E.ON, ENEXIS and others working on various projects. You have Italian transformer makers and many more going in the same direction.

Now we have the first use cases in North America, which is very exciting. Transformer maker PTI in Regina and Winnipeg has built five transformers made with bluemint® powercore®, which are being sold to three utilities in Canada. And all this is related to their targets of getting better in their ESG ratings by working on their scope 3 carbon emissions. They're looking for solutions and we can offer them.

We feel it is an obligation of our industry to inform our customers and the industry what is possible, because information is the biggest thing needed right now. Information and regulatory framework is what we need, and we need to get together and collaborate to pave the way to make these changes.