Determined into the next century! - Digital Asset Management

Determined into the next century!

Siemens Transformers Linz (STL)
in Austria is celebrating an
important milestone in 2020 –100
years as a successful and growing
business. We take this opportunity
to proudly look back and at the
same time confidently anticipate
the future.

A company, that managed to
prosper despite world-wide depression in the 1930s, that survived war damaged and
reconstruction, and is now a global market leader in the energy sector, did many things
right. This wouldn’t have been possible without inherent innovative power, great agility
and a distinct ability to adapt to changing market conditions. However, the essential
ingredient for this success is an open business culture that unites diverse employees into
a high-performing, motivated team. Continuously aiming for improvement helps our
company to stay young at heart. Right now, we are entering an exciting new chapter in
our history, as we become part of Siemen Energy. We are ready to shape an inspiring
next century of business and will continue to think outside the box to drive technological
advancement.

Overview
Approximately 300 employees and apprentices work at transformer plant Linz to ensure
reliable electric power supply in more than 50 countries around the globe. Through its
century, STL has grown from a regional transformer company to an international market
player with an export ratio of 80 %, producing more than 120 medium power
transformers, earth-fault-neutralizers and reactors annually.

Restricted

With a turnover of more than 100 million Euro, we’ve had a satisfying financial year
2019 and are optimistically looking into the future. ”Despite a highly-competitive
market, we were able to secure and develop our competitive position and grow
significantly”, says Ronald Schmid, managing director at Siemens Transformers Linz.
“Moreover, we have doubled our North-American sales since 2015.“
In the power network, transformers connect different voltage levels from power
generation to end-consumer, thus enabling an efficient power transmission across large
distances. The average life cycle is 30 to 50 years. Our transformers play an essential role
in protecting critical electrical systems and delivering reliable power to millions of
people. Outages can have severe impacts on the power network and may cause large-
scale blackouts. Therefore, a robust and reliable construction is prerequisite.

Ingenuity
New centuries go hand in to hand with new technologies and new ideas. Right from the
start, Transformers Linz positioned itself as technological leader and helped shape the
transformer business through its pioneering innovations.

Ecological-friendly oil-substitute
An important development in recent years has been to replace traditional mineral oils
through ecological-friendly Ester substitutes as insulating fluids. Ester is not only
biodegradable, but also has an increased flash and fire point. Both attributes make ester-
isolated transformers the ideal choice for environmental care areas, offshore platforms,
wind turbine-parks and cities, in general. Transformer plant Linz has supplied more than
100 Ester-transformers with this technology around the globe.

Engineering challenges are our motivation
Nearly every transformer delivered out of Linz is unique. Voltage, performance,
environment, noise level and dimensions are constructed according to our customers’
specifications. Identical designs are rare.
However, all our transformers correspond to the demands of the digital century and
include an integrated, cloud-based monitoring system with Sensformer®-technology.
Through an IoT (internet of Things) slot, data such as top oil temperature, oil-level, GPS
(Global Positioning System) and winding current information can be measured in real-

Restricted

time. A corresponding app offers clients access to the cloud-based platform, providing a
transparent real-time overview about the installed transformer units.
In addition, the Sensformer® advanced, that was introduced in 2020, provides real-time
data on cooling inlet and outlet temperatures, offering the possibility of a digital twin of
the real transformer. With the help of a thermo-hydraulic model, our clients can simulate
load cycles in different surrounding conditions. Improved productivity and transparency
are only some of the
advantages of this advanced
intelligence.
In close cooperation with our
clients and suppliers, we can
offer tailor-made transformers
for every climate zone. In
2018, we for example
delivered 3 SVC transformers
(200 MVA/220kV) to an
offshore-wind park in Great
Britain. Through innovative,
noise-minimizing measures we
were able to reduce the noise-
pressure levels to 60 dB(A).
Moreover, we developed
technical solutions to make
transformers around the globe
heat-, cold- and earthquake-resistant. We also supported a challenging subsea project in
Norway with our engineering know-how. First and foremost, we have set new standards
with our plug & play resiliency transformer. An offline transformer no longer must result
in weeks or even more than a year of outage and incurred costs for the distribution or
transmission system operator. Our resiliency transformers are designed with three key
goals in mind, ease of transportation, flexibility to system conditions, and minimization
of installation time. They meet multiple voltage and power configurations while being
able to support a variety of impedance requirements.

Restricted

Apart from many national partners, more than 400 Austrian businesses are involved
when we develop and produce our transformers in Linz. For research and development,
we cooperate closely with a network of Austrian universities, such as Kepler University,
Linz, TU Vienna and University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg.

Retrospective
1920 is the year it all started for us with the foundation of the O.Ö. Elektro Bau Gmbh
(EBG). Despite world-wide depression and inflation, the company continued to grow and
soon installed itself on today’s premises in Kraussstrasse, at that point in time, far away
from downtown Linz.

  Kraußstraße, around 1938.

Restricted

During World War II. EBG – as many other companies at that time – struggled to keep
production going despite the many military drafts. Manufacturing came to a halt, when
the plant and its premises were bombed in December 1944 and April 1945.
Reconstruction started in fall 1945, but only really gathered pace once the European
Recovery Program was launched. After that, the company constantly grew and
developed itself and its factory premises.

  Our plant, around 1954 with new built high-rise building.

Restricted

In 1953, STL started to build the first skyscraper construction in Linz. Designed as a nine-
story business complex, it still
houses STL’s administration
today. In order to drive
technological leadership, the
Linzer premises were constantly
developed and equipped with
state-of the art technology over
the years. The latest investment
program 200+ lead to a
sustainable enlargement of the
factory space and to the
construction of a 1.800m2 loading tunnel. In 2018, the inauguration of an ultra-modern
winding drying oven followed suite.

Names change, quality stays
The quality of our products remained constantly high, despite changing company names
and business structures.

The major change came with the EBG spin-off of the transformer business in 1996,
followed by a merger with ELIN to form the ELIN EBG Elektrotechnik GmbH. In 1999, the
company was renamed VA TECH EBG Transformatoren GmbH & Co, before becoming
part of the Siemens family in 2005.

Restricted

Important milestones:

   •   1959 first transformer export
   •   1971 220kV transformer construction starts
   •   1985 followed by the first 400kV transformer
   •   1997 the first short-circuit test in conducted on Linz premises
   •   2000 Export to North America starts.
   •   2003 For the first time, a transformer is
       delivered via airplane. The world’s biggest
       cargo aircraft, the Antonov AN 225, lands in
       Linz to deliver a 220 MVA three-phase
       generator transformer to Mesa/Arizona. The total freight weight is 160 tons.
   •   2004 the first Ester transformer is delivered to Vattenfall, Sweden.
   •   2010 construction of the first subsea transformer
   •   2013 manufacturing of 500 kV transformers starts
   •   2018 the first resiliency unit is built
   •   2019 the first Sensformer® is delivered
   •   2020 market introduction of Sensformer® Advanced

Perspective
Starting March 1st, 2020, our plant continues its exciting Siemens journey with a new
chapter. We belong to the newly founded Siemens Energy company, that emerged from
the spin-off of the Siemens Gas and Power division. The new company offers a complete
portfolio of integrated products, solutions and services along the entire value chain of
energy systems. Siemens Energy has approximately 88.000 employees world-wide and
plans going public in October 2020.

“If you deliver top performance, you stay on top, and I prefer advertising through
performance, over advertising through words.” (Werner von Siemens).”

Restricted

In the future, energy distribution must be secure, digital and ecological-friendly.
Our transformer plant Linz will continue to meet these demands through close
collaboration with clients and suppliers. “Our team is ready to significantly shape the
next century of transformer technology through experience and spirit of innovation”,
says general manager Roland Schmid.

Restricted