On 18 and 19 June, the European project RETROTRAFO met in Santander for the Project Meeting and the Mid-term Review Meeting, hosted by the GITEP research group at the University of Cantabria, the project coordinator. Sea Marconi takes part as an industrial partner — and in Santander it played a leading role.
The project
RETROTRAFO is funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe – Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Staff Exchanges programme (Grant Agreement No. 101182948). The consortium brings together 28 partners in 17 countries: universities, research centres, transformer manufacturers, utilities, diagnostic companies and insulating fluid specialists.
The aim is to develop knowledge and technology for the retrofilling of power transformers with biodegradable and recycled dielectric fluids: replacing mineral oil in transformers that have been in service for years with more sustainable alternatives, verifying that they can continue operating safely and efficiently. A path that fits within the circular economy, reducing environmental impact and strengthening the resilience of energy grids.
The project continues and expands the work started with BIOTRAFO (Horizon 2020 MSCA-RISE, 2019–2021), also coordinated by the University of Cantabria, which laid the scientific groundwork for the use of ester fluids in power transformers. Sea Marconi was also a consortium partner in BIOTRAFO.
Sea Marconi’s contribution
On 18 June, Sea Marconi presented a case study on the retrofilling of a power (furnace) transformer with ester fluids, building on the know-how already developed in BIOTRAFO.
On 19 June, during the Plenary Meeting, Sea Marconi (Vander Tumiatti) also submitted to the project coordinator a proposal to amend RETROTRAFO’s extended title, to broaden its scope of application to high-criticality assets such as AI data centers. The proposed title:
“Development of knowledge and technology to implement retrofilling in power transformers using biodegradable or recycled fluids and fostering circular economy for sustainable equipment and resilient assets such as AI data centers”
Behind the proposal lies a profound technological shift: next-generation data centers are adopting direct processor cooling technologies through immersion in insulating fluids, to manage “hyper” power densities — industry projections indicate that racks could exceed 1 MW of power each by 2027-2028, compared with the current 120-150 kW of the most advanced AI racks. It is a fast-growing market, with aggregated estimates from several analysts (McKinsey, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs) placing CAPEX investment between USD 5,000 and 7,500 billion over the 2030-2032 horizon, of which the cooling segment alone accounts for around 15-20%.
For Sea Marconi, which has 58 years of global experience, this scenario represents both an international-scale technological challenge and a concrete opportunity: applying to a new field of application its expertise in diagnosis, prognosis and targeted fluid treatment, with the asset and risk management approach that has always characterised the company’s work.
More information on the project: retrotrafo.unican.es
