BEST Transformer, Balikesir, Turkey

What they build

• Oil immersed distribution transformers
• Oil immersed power transformers, with units at 154 kV and 380 kV short circuit tested
• Cast resin dry type transformers, from a dedicated dry type factory opened in 2016
• Reactors and mechanical components

Company facts

• Founded in 1966 in Balikesir, with the first transformers built in 1969.
• Opened a new factory in the Balikesir Organized Industrial Zone in 2009, and later expanded its core cutting and coil winding facilities there.
• Opened a dedicated dry type transformer factory, also in the Balikesir Organized Industrial Zone, in 2016.
• The company put combined production capacity across its Balikesir plants at about 50,000 MVA a year in a 2017 interview.

How they sell

Builds to order, so a purchase order buys a production slot rather than a unit on a shelf.

In practice that means a purchase order is a place in a queue. Ask for the lead time from purchase order in writing, and ask whether the quoted date is a ship date or a production start. Those are not the same thing and quotes rarely say which.

Where they fit on a job

Federal work needs TAA eligible origin, so confirm the country of manufacture on the specific unit rather than assuming from the brand. Many brands build in several countries.

Common ratings

If the lead time does not work

These hold stock, so they are where to look when the date will not move.

Common questions

Sources

• Transformer Magazine, Interview with Sirri Yircali, Deputy Chairman of BEST Transformer
• Energy and Utilities, BEST Balikesir Elektromekanik Sanayi Tesisleri company profile
• EMIS, Balikesir Elektromekanik Sanayi Tesisleri company profile