China's prefabricated substations initially evolved from European-style substations, often resulting in large sizes. With China's opening up to the outside world and the vigorous development of its market economy, around the 1990s, the American company COOPER pioneered the American-style prefabricated substation market in China, achieving rapid growth due to its unique characteristics. These American-style substations can now be seen almost everywhere in China, from south to north and east to west, mostly imitations by domestic manufacturers, resulting in inconsistent quality. Through years of application and practice, it is necessary to carefully analyze and correctly position American-style prefabricated substations in light of China's national conditions to promote the technological and market development of prefabricated substations in China.
The capacity ratings of American transformers differ from those in China. China offers six capacity ratings from 250 to 800 kVA (250, 315, 400, 500, 630, 800). In contrast, American products only offer three capacity ratings from 250 to 800 kVA (300, 500, 750). This presents challenges for capacity selection during design. For example, if a 630kVA capacity is sufficient, a 750kVA capacity would need to be designed, which not only increases equipment investment but also increases the user's capacity expansion fee by 20%. American transformer manufacturers have not established maintenance centers in China, so it is difficult to handle and resolve equipment accidents in a short period of time.
