It is widely accepted that the average age of power transformers in New Zealand is higher than those in the international comparators. Based on this, the questions that have to be asked are: (1) what are the demographics or statistical distribution of the transformer fleet age; (2) what maintenance activities are being undertaking on these assets; (3) what are the common trends with transformer defects; (4) what transformer procurement practices are being followed; (5) what transformer monitoring practices are being embraced; (6) what will New Zealand transformer fleet potentially look like in the next 10 or 15 years. This paper attempts to respond to these important questions so that asset owners of power transformers in New Zealand have a snapshot of present transformer life cycle practices. Information used in this paper is either available on public domain or in most cases has been supplied by the asset owner(s) in confidence. As in-service transformer fleet carries commercial sensitivity, details on location, manufacturer, and in some cases ratings of transformer are not disclosed. It is anticipated that the content from this paper will be referenced by asset owners of power transformers in New Zealand to benchmark its assets against overall demographics and identify trends in power transformer procurements. Manufacturers of power transformers and refurbishment contractors can use this information to prepare themselves for servicing New Zealand's power transformer industry.
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