Trench Group CEO Details High-Voltage Grid Equipment Supply

High-voltage grid components are a critical bottleneck as utilities, transmission developers, and data center operators compete for equipment. Bahadir Basdere, CEO of manufacturer Trench Group, detailed the supply pressures in an interview with POWER magazine.

Since becoming independent from Siemens Energy in April 2024, Trench Group has doubled its annual revenue to over €1 billion. Its order backlog now exceeds €2.1 billion. The company has committed roughly €400 million to expand its global production capacity through 2030.

North American Market and Manufacturing Push

North America accounts for about half of Trench Group's new orders. In July 2026, the company opened its first U.S. Manufacturing facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. The $60 million, 170,000-square-foot plant produces dry-type transformer bushings rated from 25 kV to 765 kV.

Initial annual capacity is about 3,500 units, with space to expand to 10,000. The company also signed a strategic capacity agreement with Meta to supply bushings for its global data center infrastructure. Basdere said the Charlotte factory was built in just over 15 months, a speed enabled by the company's independence.

Strategic Growth and Portfolio Expansion

Trench Group's growth strategy involves focused acquisitions and integrated product offerings. In 2025 and early 2026, it acquired H Nu, RPC's insulator assets, and Enerlux. At the CIGRE Paris 2026 conference, it launched a co-engineered power quality package combining Enerlux capacitors, Trench Austria reactors, and Trench instrument transformers.

"Power quality is one of the most strongly growing segments in grid infrastructure," Basdere stated. The integrated package aims to reduce resonance and commissioning issues that arise when components are sourced separately.

The company operates 11 factories across eight countries and plans to grow its workforce from over 3,000 to about 4,000 by 2030. Its business is organized into three units:

Supply Chain Risks and Resilience

Basdere identified three compounding supply chain risks for the next two years. First, manufacturing capacity cannot keep pace with demand. Second, the industry relies on a narrow base of specialized suppliers, making it vulnerable to single disruptions. Third, cybersecurity risks grow as components become more networked.

Trench Group's de-risking strategy includes qualifying a broader supplier base, pursuing geographic diversification, and using long-term agreements for critical components. "The goal is resilience through redundancy and visibility," Basdere explained. He emphasized knowing where every critical dependency sits and having an alternative ready.

The Demand Drivers: Grids and Data Centers

Basdere cited structural demand drivers shaping the decade. Global electricity demand is projected to reach 33,600 TWh by 2030. Annual grid investment needs to increase by roughly 50% to keep pace. This is fueled by widespread electrification, AI data center growth, and large-scale grid modernization.

"The world has entered the age of electricity," he said. This market growth, combined with focused execution, enabled the company's rapid scale-up. Revenue for the first three quarters of 2026 grew 31% year-over-year to more than €860 million, with order intake up 28% to nearly €1.5 billion.

The company's roots trace back over a century to key inventions: condenser bushings in Germany in 1893, instrument transformers in Italy in 1919, and the air-core reactor in Canada in 1962. Today, its components are present in power grids worldwide, connecting, measuring, and stabilizing high-voltage transmission infrastructure.