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Power transformer manufacturer Marsons Limited has partnered with New York-based private equity firm Cleanhill Partners to expand its transformer manufacturing, distribution and servicing business across the US and Canada.
What these companies do: Marsons makes power transformers, which help move electricity from power plants to homes and businesses.
It already supplies transformers for large US utility projects and is expanding its manufacturing capacity from 12,000 MVA to 26,000 MVA.
Cleanhill Partners, meanwhile, is a private equity firm focused on clean-energy infrastructure, investing in areas such as energy storage, power systems and solar infrastructure.
The collab: the joint venture will combine Marsons’ transformer-making expertise with Cleanhill’s funding and industry network. The combined venture plans to eventually set up full-scale transformer factories in North America.
The significance: the US is facing a serious transformer shortage, with wait times for new equipment now exceeding 24 months. Demand is soaring as data centres, factories, EVs, renewable projects and grid upgrades require more power.
Between 2019 and 2025, demand for generator step-up transformers rose 274%, while demand for substation transformers jumped 116%. US power demand is set to rise sharply, especially in data-centre-heavy regions. Texas could see annual demand growth of up to 15%, putting even more pressure on an already strained power grid, and increasing the need for transformers.
Meanwhile, transformer prices have risen 80% in five years. That makes the Marsons-Cleanhill partnership particularly timely as the JV aims to increase local manufacturing facilities and help ease a pressing bottleneck.
