Virginia Transformer has announced plans for a new plant in Colbert County to make power transformers ranging from 2 MVA up to 500 MVA. Construction is set to begin immediately, and the plant is expected to be operational in 2028.
The 600,000-square-foot facility will be in Shoals Research Airpark. It will be the company’s seventh plant in North America. It is designed to meet the needs of heavy manufacturing, mining, energy infrastructure and similar users, which the company says is now “being met by imported transformers from overseas.”
Virginia Transformer is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and is U.S. owned.
When it reaches full production, the plant is expected to employ 1,100 workers.
“The design, technology and process at the new plant will be an extension of the company’s 500 kV factory in Rincon, Georgia, which recently achieved a streak of 86 consecutive power transformers successfully passing FAT (final acceptance testing), a world record,” the company said in announcing the plant.
“For more than 50 years, Virginia Transformer’s growth has been driven by our commitment to delivering for our customers – we are The Commitment Company,” said Prabhat Jain, CEO of Virginia Transformer. “This investment represents the latest addition in our ongoing expansion across North America, will create our seventh manufacturing facility, and reflects our confidence in the markets and customers we serve, as well as our dedicated workforce.
“We are recognized throughout the industry as an engineering company that crafts and delivers premium-quality transformers within the shortest lead times —products designed for a 60-year service life,” Jain added. “This investment strengthens that position and ensures we will continue scaling to meet our customers’ evolving needs.”
Kevin Jackson, president of the Shoals Economic Development Authority, said, “Virginia Transformer’s decision to locate its newest manufacturing facility in the Shoals is a powerful endorsement of Northwest Alabama’s highly skilled manufacturing workforce, strategic location and capacity for continued industrial growth.”
“Virginia Transformer’s investment in Muscle Shoals reflects a powerful force reshaping the American economy with advanced manufacturing driving the urgent need to modernize our nation’s electric grid,” said Stefan Loeb, vice president of business development and first and final mile markets for Norfolk Southern, which has a dedicated spur to the site. “In partnership with the State of Alabama, programs like the Growing Alabama Tax Credit combined with this site’s platinum REDI designation, provide the speed, ease of execution and rail connectivity needed to deliver the large-scale infrastructure that powers industry, communities and the digital economy. We’re proud to be a future supply chain partner of this new facility.”
