Founded in 1967, CEDASPE celebrates its 50th company anniversary this year. Based in Italy, CEDASPE has grown from a small workshop with three employees and one product line into an international company with three plants in Italy and an expansive product range. Today, CEDASPE is part of the REINHAUSEN Group, working closely with other members of the group and sharing expertise and experience to improve customer services.
The History of CEDASPE
In 1967, Giorgio Giorgi founded CED
Elettromeccanica S.r.I. in Milan, renaming
it to CEDASPE in 1994 after acquiring
ASPE.
The company started growing in 1976
when Gian Franco Giorgi, the current
managing
director, joined the company.
He immediately spearheaded the development
of new products for transformers,
such as butterfly valves and bushings in
a voltage range up to 52 kV. Export business
picked up speed and new customers
continued to flock to them from all over
Europe and around the world.
In 1986, Andrea Giorgi joined the company
as a plant manager and established new
production lines, including modern CNC
machining centers and turning machines.
There were bigger changes in the 1990s:
European Trafo Products (ETP) was
founded
with a local partner in Singapore
in 1997 in order to serve the Southeast
Asian market better. After taking over the
companies ASPE (1994) and Fornasari
(1998), CEDASPE moved to its current
headquarters in San Giliano Milanese, Italy.
The product offerings were also updated,
beginning with low-voltage bushings for
distribution transformers. CEDASPE was
the first company to develop a new design
in accordance with EN 50386. The
ED bushing series was a revolution on the
market, forcing the competition to keep
pace. The innovations continued over the years with a new Buchholz relay, a new design
for the oil level indicator (including
an electronic version with value transmission),
new butterfly valves (zero leakage),
new dehydrating breathers and new terminal
boxes.
Internationalization continued: In 2007,
CEDASPE concluded a joint venture
with Sukrut Electric Company Private
Limited for the Indian market. In 2009,
British Transformer Components Ltd.
(BTRAC) was founded. Today, BTRAC
is also a member of the REINHAUSEN
Group. ETP also began producing
bushings for distribution transformers
as well as assembling bushings for power
transformers in Singapore, supervised by
CEDASPE.
The product portfolio
CEDASPE has always invested in new technologies to create the best product range for its customers. The product portfolio includes the key CEDASPE products; bushings for distribution and power transformers, instruments and protection devices such as oil level gauges and Buchholz relays, as well as tank accessories, e.g. butterfly valves and terminal boxes.
All products have been designed in order to meet and exceed minimum standard requirements in accordance with IEC 60137 and EN 50216 standards. Moreover,
In 2014, the decision was reached to invest in a new product line: the Silicone Bushing Composite (SBC) series for power transformers. Following the latest market trends, the next logical step was to upgrade substation technology using silicone insulators not just for overhead lines or condenser-type high voltage bushings.
“It was a highlight for our development team and we are very proud of the product’s success. But we are not resting on our laurels – we are currently working on a new product that will hopefully be successful,” explained Gian Franco Giorgi, managing director of CEDASPE.
The Silicone Bushing Composite (SBC) range, the new family of bushings, is the response to the ever-increasing demand for a safe, efficient and reliable product that can help both OEMs and utility companies optimize the total operational costs
of the transformer.
The CEDASPE SBC is a hollow-core oilfilled composite bushing featuring a wide operational range: from 12 kV to 52 kV rated voltage and from 630 A to 4500 A
rated current.
The insulation body is made of a fiberglass tube with an integrated aluminum flange that improves the bushing strength, reducing the risk of oil leakage. The silicone insulator is molded directly onto the fiberglass tube by a modern, state-of-the-art injection system based on liquid silicone technology (LSR).
This use of silicone technology ensures that the bushing is safe and maintenancefree, and it has a longer service life as a result.
The most recent goal achieved by CEDASPE: the SBC bushings have been positively tested at Koeberg Insulator Pollution Test Station (KIPTS); the official test certificate has been issued by ESKOM on 31/07/2017.
Tests started more than one year ago according to ESKOM specifications: the SBC 36-M42-RSA bushing successfully passed both light-to-medium and heavy-to-very heavy test cycles: thus certifying this product is fit for use in both an inland non-coastal and coastal environment.
The innovative CEDASPE SBC design has the same overall dimensions of the corresponding porcelain-type bushing, in accordance with either DIN 42533 and 4 or EN 50180, allowing for replacement on-site during normal transformer maintenance operations.
Bushings for power and distribution transformers are the core business of CEDASPE. With two series of porcelain bushings for power transformers (HV, HC) and three series of porcelain bushings for distribution transformers (ED, LV, MV), as well as flags and bushing connections in almost every size and design, the company can find the best solution for every customer in accordance with their specifications.
CEDASPE also manufactures highly specialized parts, such as busbars for rectifiers and furnace transformers.
Instruments and protection devices
“Some of the first products in the CEDASPE portfolio included oil level gauges. We are currently producing three different types of gauges in different sizes,” said Giorgi. Well-versed in transformer operation, CEDASPE used its expertise to develop a new oil level indicator with inclined flange mounting and a large dial indicator, new pressure relief devices and special oil flow indicators.
CEDASPE Buchholz relays are designed to detect faults and prevent damage from spreading in oil-filled transformers.
The main series are the EB and EE lines.
Offering various other series, including several adaptation solutions, CEDASPE makes any replacement possible.
Tank accessories
CEDASPE also supplies a variety of products for the tank of a transformer, such as butterfly valves, terminal boxes or conventional breathers. They round out a large range of offerings meeting customer needs for their transformers.
50 years of CEDASPE
This year, CEDASPE celebrated an important company anniversary: 50 years of CEDASPE. The official birthday celebration was held in Milan under the motto “Full steam ahead.” In mid-June, the company celebrated its anniversary with over 90 guests in the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology. The three brothers Enrico, Gian Franco and Andrea Giorgi took the opportunity to thank all their loyal customers, suppliers and employees.
“It is impressive today, looking back at the years. 50 years ago, nobody expected such successful development. Now, we are looking forward to experiencing the next stage of our company history as a member of the REINHAUSEN family,” said Gian Franco Giorgi.
CEDASPE is a fast growing company – as part of Reinhausen Group, you are in a good position for the next 50 years of company history. What were your highlights from the last 50 years?
Looking back on this fantastic half century, we still remember the late eighties, when CEDASPE was already exporting almost 80% of its product around the world (to South East Asia, Arabia and South America). We also remember our big success on the market when we launched the ED LV bushing series at the beginning of the millennium. In addition to highcurrent bushings for generator step-up transformers (GSU), the recent success of our CEDASPE SBC silicone bushings is especially motivating.
The silicone bushings are the stars of your product portfolio. What are the special features of this product?
We designed our SBC bushing because we believe it is the answer to future market requirements: safety, cost-effectiveness and reliability. A smart design, featuring a high quality fiber glass tube and an innovative flange, makes the product strong, extremely flexible and easy to use.
What are the targets for the company in the next few years?
We intend to expand our portfolio with new products in order to increase our presence on the market. Thanks to the worldwide presence of the REINHAUSEN Group, we are able to reach every corner of the world and definitively become recognized as the market leader in transformer hollow-core bushings and components.
