When CIGRE started in 1921, the transformer already celebrated its 36th birthday.

The fundamental theories were fully developed and the basic design features and materials seem to have remained unchanged since those days. But with the increasing demand of electrical energy and the growth of grid systems, it turned out that the transformer technology faced new problems to be solved.

Whereas in the past the activities of Study Committee A2 (Transformers) were concentrating on design problems related to new materials and the rapid increase of rated voltage and power, service conditions and their impact on the transformer performance have governed the discussions of the last two decades.