THE HISTORY OF THE ROMANIAN POWER TRANSFORMER DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED AND TESTED AT ELECTROPUTERE CRAIOVA AND PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

This paper is an accurate history of the Romanian transformer’s birth, rise, and demise, which was designed, manufactured, and tested at "ELECTROPUTERE" Craiova, written by those who lived it to the fullest. It has been planned for a long time, but this year, a special occasion came up, 75 years since the founding of ELECTROPUTERE and 50 years since the founding of the ICMET Institute. These events together led to the fame of the Romanian transformer worldwide. The present paper attempts to convey to contemporaries the "history of the Romanian transformer" designed, manufactured, and tested on the Electroputere Craiova platform from the beginning of this industry in 1949 to its forced end in 2019. We are talking about specialists trained exclusively in the country, especially in Craiova through the Technical Institute created in 1951, which also had a bad fate, being abolished in 1958 and re-inaugurated in 1966! These situations were typical of the communist regime. However, the production of transformers ensured the country's electrification on a large scale and has constantly driven an export production of millions of dollars since 1980. What makes this presentation unique is that the authors know all the stages and personalities that were formed and contributed to the manufacturing of the Romanian transformer at Electroputere from the beginning to the end. The overview and photos of the large transformers and the test campus that allowed the certification and export of the products are highlighted. Finally, the current paradigm shift is presented: the transition from the traditional power transformer to the digital and electronic power transformer