Gulf Construction Online - AJTS is buoyed by sizeable orders

Power Generation

The AJTS factory

AJTS is buoyed by sizeable orders

01 SEPTEMBER 2001

Al Jizzi Transformers & Switchgears Company (AJTS), which has been in operation for about two years, has received encouraging signs that it can grow into a larger, more distinguished organisation than it now is.

The company, a member of the prominent Oman Holdings International (OHI) Group, manufactures distribution transformers in various ranges with current production around 1,200 pieces per year.

The production facilities are at Maa'bela, in the Muscat area, and the technical collaborator is Kotsons of India, which has considerable experience in the making of transformers and has been exporting in a big way.

AJTS is also engaged in the repair and maintenance of transformers and has the facilities to undertake onsite or factory repairs.

The company has test produced a prototype transformer for use in oil installations and is in talks with international oil companies.

General manager Shekhar Sinha says the fastest-selling items are transformer ratings of 1,000 KVA and 500 KVA with sizeable orders having been received from Oman's Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Environment and the Ministry of Defence as well as private entrepreneurs.

The company expects this year's production to be 50 per cent more than in 2000. By the end of 2002, it expects to double output.

The company hopes to produce a minimum of 3,000 pieces per year before long. Also planned is the manufacture of power transformers up to 20 MVA.

Recently, AJTS bagged a significant order for 1,300 distribution transformers, a thousand of which were of 50 KVA and the rest 1,000 KVA.

Sinha says he is also expecting business from other Arab states, notably Yemen, Jordan and Bahrain. "As the company grows, we will need to upgrade transformers from lower rating to higher rating.''

AJTS procures its raw materials from Europe, the Gulf states and India, and one of the concerns of the company is price fluctuations, which often reflect the behaviour of oil and copper prices.

AJTS transformers undergo stringent tests including those that follow IEC-76 specifications.

The tests include measurements of impedance voltage and load losses; measurements of 'no load' losses and 'no load' current; measurements of winding resistance and voltage ratio; testing of vector group conformity; the applied voltage withstand test and the 'induced over voltage' test.

The tests carried out on each design include ones for temperature rise, impulse voltage and short circuit withstand. The transformer tanks are both of the hermetically sealed and conservator types. The winding is of electrolytic copper conductor.

Encouraged by the Syrian order, the company is looking closely at markets nearer home in the Gulf and is in the process of establishing a distributor network.

"There is a good potential for transformers in the Gulf region," says Sinha. "The Omani market alone is growing by 8 to 9 per cent annually and considering there is much infrastructure activity going on in the other Gulf states, we have decided we need to have an expansion that will enable us to produce at least 3,000 pieces per year."

The expansion will also include facilities to manufacture power transformers of up to 20 MVA. Currently power transformers are imported into Oman from the UAE and other countries.

The company is keen that its product range includes transformers that can be used in the lucrative oilfields sector.

"Our team of designers has successfully tested a prototype for that purpose. We are negotiating with oilfield companies like Centrilift and ESP International for contracts," says Sinha, who sees a vast potential in the oil-rich states of the Middle East.

"We expect to supply 300 to 500 transformers of this kind per year in Oman alone. Demand will increase with new oil finds and increases in crude oil production."

Sinha says he had one company representative telling him: "If the price is right, we can purchase your product for any site in the world, from Yemen to Venezuela."