Comment by csense | Hacker News Reader

Comment by csense | Hacker News Reader

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About the limited number of manufacturers of transformers: Would it be possible and inexpensive to eliminate this problem by keeping a government stockpile of spares somewhere protected with limited access? Do we have planes big enough that in a crisis we could deploy them in hours, or would it involve trucking them to their destination over the course of days? In the latter case, surely the military has secure facilities well distributed over the country and it should be possible to pre-position them.

Or are these transformers so large that they basically have to be built on-site? Or so expensive that keeping ~10 spares would cost too much (say ~$200 million or more)?

Any electricity experts want to chime in?

http://www.tjpottertrucking.com/trucking-oversized-loads/hea... ... if a plane can carry that, then transport by air is possible. The Antonov An-225 Mriya could probably carry a large transformer.

IEEE (or the manufacturers?) have commissioning procedures. Typically the larger transformers are manufactured elsewhere, then reassembled on-site and commissioned (figure a week to a month).

Your ballpark estimate on the cost is close enough.

One point to remember is that 'if it bleeds it leads', news stories are often sensationalized to achieve more viewers/readers. Typically for power applications, the sizing of equipment is based on peak demand such that the equipment is only fully utilized in a short time period (people get upset when power isn't available or a fire is started). While this report is probably correct in essence, without knowing the exact scenario that was modeled it is difficult to determine a solution.

They're expensive, and I gather perhaps customized, e.g. at least sized to demand, even if upstream voltages might be somewhat standardized.

We in Joplin, MO lost a substation of perhaps this class in the 2011 EF5 tornado, and my father saw them delivering the replacement not too long ago, it was big. (Note the delay was due to the fact that there was no need to supply lots of power to an area that was wiped off the face of the earth prior to enough rebuilding.)

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