The Mysterious Case of the Missing 250-Ton Chinese Power Transformer

Vice ^ | bCynthia Brumfield

[BenLurkin]

In May, the Trump administration seized a 250-ton, $3 million Chinese high-voltage transformer that was on its way to Colorado.

The manufacturer of the high-voltage 500,000-pound transformer was Chinese company JiangSu HuaPeng Transformer Co., Ltd., or JSHP, which shipped the transformer from Shanghai to the Port of Houston in August 2019.

JSHP’s North American representative Jim Cai told Motherboard his company planned to spend a couple of hundred thousand dollars to transport the high-grade steel using a particular kind of railroad car to WAPA’s Ault substation in Colorado, where JSHP would then install it. Like all electric substations, the Ault facility’s main purpose is to “step down” high-voltage electricity, typically above 1,000 volts, to lower, more manageable levels that can be distributed safely to homes and businesses.

Before the ship docked in Texas, WAPA told JSHP to cancel its plans to transport and install the transformer and to forget about selling a warranty on the equipment, which is almost always mandatory for highly specialized, expensive electrical system equipment. The utility then transported the transformer itself to Sandia.

JSHP’s Cai denies the presence of a backdoor in his company’s equipment but says he believes that DOE suspects China of booby-trapping its power grid gear. Cai points to early 2019 press reports in which DOE officials talk about the risks of Chinese equipment in electric facilities.

...Cai says... he thinks that DOE suspects one of his company’s transformers installed at the Bayonne (NJ) Energy Center, a generating facility now owned by Scottish company Ethos Energy, was responsible for the so-called “blue sky” incident in New York in late-December 2018. In that widely reported “arcing” incident, an explosion at ConEd’s Astoria substation caused the New York skyline to shine bright blue for a brief period.

[Grammy]

"I worked for a medical device company. they had a piece of equipment made in china.

The software was so full of spyware that they had to remove the internet connection and put signs all over the machine warning to NEVER connect it to the internet."

There is a Chinese hand held ham radio available now that needs to be programmed by computer. One of our hams who worked on it said his virus protection went crazy.

[wildcard_redneck]

“The looting class in charge of US corporations is effectively cooperating with the foreign theft of US technology.”

You are 100% correct. I have met a lot of executives and they are only interested in themselves and do not care about building anything. They migrate around the corporate world like locusts ripping off shareholders and America.

[Ozark Tom]

Oil and crepe paper wrappings were the primary insulation of the windings for large transformers, as of twenty years ago. Contaminants in the oil provide one avenue of insulation failure. Purposely introducing such would eventually result in a unit’s failure. Accomplishing this on-command in a timely manner would require a bit of engineering finesse.

Aging of materials from heat and chemical degradation are the usual routes for failure. Perhaps there is something new under the sun?

[SunkenCiv]

They have a hard time just building apartment buildings that don't tip over in the rain. The main problem with Chinese business is they don't think it's important to do a good job, and screw you!

[A Voice]

BINGO..

[MHGinTN]

Article has the earmarks of a disordered mind trying to convey a story without comprehending the details so the story comes out in a jumbled order of facts.