Quick answer
Large power transformers currently carry lead times beyond 120 weeks, with prices up roughly 77% since 2019, and medium voltage switchgear is quoting two to three years on real orders. For many sites, refurbishing the transformers, switchgear, UPS, and power systems already installed is the only route to acceptable project dates.
Key takeaways
- Power transformer lead times now exceed 120 weeks and prices are up 77% since 2019.
- The long-lead item routinely holds entire projects hostage at commissioning.
- Equipment already on site has no lead time, and refurbishment is often the faster and cheaper path where condition supports it.
Order a large power transformer today and the delivery quote can run past 120 weeks. That is not a typo: the biggest units are now measured in years, prices have climbed roughly 77% since 2019, and medium voltage switchgear, the heavy-duty equipment that switches and protects power at distribution level, tells the same story. On recent orders our own team has placed, switchgear delivery has come back quoted two to three years out.
This post explains why the wait has become this long, what it does to energy and industrial projects, and why the fastest supply chain available to many sites is the equipment they already own.
Why the queue got this long
Demand exploded. Data centres, electrification of industry and transport, grid reinforcement, and renewable connections all need the same transformers and switchgear at the same time. Every new solar farm, battery site, and factory expansion joins the same order books.
Capacity didn't. These are specialised, slow-to-build products from a small number of factories worldwide. New manufacturing capacity takes years to stand up, and the industry is cautious about building it after decades of thin margins.
The gap lands on you. Published 2026 lead-time indexes put critical electrical equipment at two to four times pre-pandemic norms, and in some categories it is still getting worse, not better.
There are manufacturers overseas quoting far shorter lead times. In practice, many operators of critical infrastructure are unwilling to put unfamiliar names on the equipment their site depends on, which keeps demand concentrated on the established makers, and the queues long.
What this does to a project
The transformer is routinely the item that holds up commissioning. The civil works finish, the panels arrive, the team is booked, and the entire programme waits on one delivery. We have watched it happen for years on new-build projects, and it has not improved.
The cost is bigger than the equipment price. A project waiting two extra years carries two extra years of financing, rent, and lost revenue, and in the current queue, the replacement date you're given is not always the date you get.
The supply chain already on your site
Here is the part the order books don't show: the transformer that has been running for 20 years has no lead time. Neither does the switchgear beside it, or the UPS, or the STATCOM that's showing its age.
Refurbishment takes equipment that is electrically sound and renews the parts that actually wear: windings inspected, contacts and mechanisms serviced, consumables replaced, controls updated, everything tested against its duty. We've written before about what this looks like in practice, from rebuilding inverters on site to replacing the battery inside a working storage system rather than scrapping it.
Done properly, refurbishment delivers working equipment on a schedule measured in weeks or months, not years, at a fraction of replacement cost, and without the decommissioning, foundations, and cabling that a like-for-like swap quietly adds to the bill.
When new is still the right answer
Refurbishment has to earn its place, and sometimes it doesn't. Equipment can be genuinely at end of life: insulation past saving, damage beyond economic repair, a design that no longer fits the site's load. Sometimes the site's requirement has changed so much that the old asset was never going to serve it.
The way to know is condition data, not guesswork. Testing and inspection tell you what an asset can actually deliver, and an honest assessment sometimes concludes that replacement is right. What we push back on is the reflex: replacing serviceable equipment by default, then discovering the replacement is years away.
Three questions before you join the queue
- What condition is the existing asset really in? Commission testing and inspection before assuming it's done. The answer decides everything else.
- What does the wait actually cost? Price the delay, not just the equipment: financing, lost revenue, and the risk the quoted date slips again.
- Can refurbishment bridge or solve? Even where new equipment is the eventual answer, refurbishing the existing asset can keep the site running while the order works through the queue.
Facing a multi-year quote on replacement equipment? We refurbish transformers, switchgear, UPS systems, and power electronics, and we'll tell you honestly when refurbishment isn't the answer. Start a consultation or email sales@renewable-d.com.
Frequently asked questions
How long are transformer lead times in 2026?
Large power transformers are quoting lead times beyond 120 weeks, and US market reporting in 2026 puts high-capacity and transmission-scale units at up to four years. Medium voltage switchgear and other critical electrical equipment are running two to four times pre-pandemic lead times, and prices for power transformers have risen roughly 77% since 2019.
Is it cheaper to refurbish a transformer or replace it?
Where the core asset is electrically sound, refurbishment typically costs a fraction of replacement and avoids the added costs a swap brings: decommissioning, foundations, cabling, and switchgear changes. The deciding factor is condition, which testing and inspection establish. Genuinely end-of-life equipment is the exception where replacement wins.
Can old switchgear and UPS equipment be refurbished too?
Yes. Switchgear mechanisms, protection, and contacts can be serviced and updated; UPS systems can have batteries, power modules, and controls renewed while the steelwork and infrastructure stay in service. The same condition-first logic applies: test, assess honestly, then renew what wear has actually consumed.
Tags
Working on a project like this?
Talk to our engineering team about your site, your grid connection or your power quality problem.
Get in touch
