With more than 40 years in the business, Transformadores del Caribe y Representaciones S.A.S (Tradelca S.A.S) is a family founded company dedicated to offering a fast, efficient and reliable service, always respecting the clients’ requirements, which has allowed us to build a healthy and highly competitive market

OUR STORY

  • 1948.- The Company Transformadores de Colombia Ltda. was founded by electrical engineer Carlos Heilbron Merlano.
  • 1964 – One of the founder’s sons Andres Heilbron Andrade travels to the United Kingdom for eleven years to complete his studies in electrical engineering, and shortly after graduating starts to work for Foster Transformers Ltd, in South Wimbledon, London, in the design of power transformers.
  • 1967 – Upon finishing his career in Germany, having worked for Siemens, another of the founder’s sons engineer Gustavo Heilbron Andrade returns to Transformadores de Colombia Ltda.
  • 1973 – Transformadores del Caribe Ltda. (Tradelca Ltda.) is founded in Barranquilla by Carlos Heilbron Merlano and his brothers Andres and Hernando Heilbron Merlano, to provide services in the northern area of the country. The company is a pioneer in the provision of repair service, maintenance and reconstruction of distribution transformers in Colombia’s Atlantic Coast.
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  • 1975 – Andres Heilbron Andrade begins his work with the family business: Transformadores de Colombia Ltda as Chief of the Engineering and Design Division, for a period of twenty years. He was also a transformer professor at the Universidad del Valle and a pioneer in the development and establishment of the universities High Voltage Laboratory as well as the organizer of the First International Seminar on High Voltage in 1975.
  • The company begun tackling the problem concerning Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arranging conferences and participating in ecological congress, in order to raise awareness amongst the users of these transformers about the dangers these highly dangerous liquid contaminants. The company was the first to lead this movement nationally before the establishment of the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente).
  • 1977 – Due to the company’s success in the Atlantic Coast, the business relocates to larger premises.
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  • 1979 – The new premises are complete, and include new equipment such as: bridge crane for up to 10 ton, a higher capacity electrical oven, and two new winders imported from England, a Foster’s AC insulating tester of 5KVA and 100 KV, new dielectric oil tester up to 60KV. A bench test was created to measure no-load losses.
  • 1982 – A newly acquired Foster’s AC insulating tester from England has a higher capacity of 25 KVA and 75 KV, and new equipment for testing winding resistance.
  • 1988 – Repair works start on transformers between 5 and 10 MVA. New equipment is bought to expand the insulating oil laboratory, including IFT, relative density, colour and neutralization number.
  • 1992 – The company is taken over by Andres Heilbron (Tracol Ltd associate) and Carlos Heilbron Ruff is appointed as new General Manager. Two new Vokes Stream Line oil filtration systems, made in the UK, and humidity testers are purchased.
  • 1994 – A third Vokes Stream Line oil filtration system for on-site maintenance is acquired. The first oil filtering treatments off-site for power transformers using cryogenic systems is used for a 15 MVA transformer.
  • 1995 – Tanks are built in order to provide full oil regeneration treatment with Fullers Earth. .
  • 2001 – The company is named technologic partner of Isagen S.A.E.S.P.
  • 2003 – Tradelca Ltd is the first company in the Atlantic Coast to be awarded by Icontec with an ISO 9000: 2000 Quality Assurance Certificate for the maintenance, repair and reconstruction of transformers. Currently the company is certified with the up to date ISO 9001:2008 Certificate
  • The company wins the Second Award of Excellence in Micro and small Businesses, hosted by Banco Caja Social and the Anif, at a national level. The prize was handed to the General Manager by the president of the nation Alvaro Uribe Velez.
  • 2004 – Representing DOWDING AND MILLS [D&M] from the UK, an on-site partial repair of an ABB turbo generator’s V.P.I stator’s windings with 140 MVA capacity for the electrical generating company Tebsa S.A in Barranquilla is done. This type of repair was a worldwide first. Together with D&M, on site repairs were also done for Emgesa S.A, on a turnkey project, for three motors of 7720 KW, B.B brand, at 13,2 kV at the “Estacion de Bombeo Muña” (Muña Pumping Station). In the U.K, with D&M a repair for a 10 MVA G.E generator rotor, testing for dynamic balancing at maximum speed was also completed.
  • 2005 – The first on-line maintenance was performed on a Siemens 4 MVA, 34,5/13,8 kV transformer.
  • 2006 – The company gains independence from its parent company Tracol and changes its name to Transformadores del Caribe y Representaciones S.A (Tradelca S.A). The company becomes the exclusive representative in Colombia of S.D. Myers Inc., which is world’s leader in transformer maintenance and oil testing.
  • 2007 – Tradelca S.A is the first organisation in Colombia to obtain an Environmental License for the handling, treatment, employment, recovery and final disposition of dangerous residues, specifically for insulating oils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
  • 2008 – Tradelca S.A. is certified by the Colombian RUC Security Council, obtaining a score of 86%, demonstrating once more its dedication to safety and the welfare of our personnel and environment.
  • During the same year, the Company purchases a new General Electric Oil Puryfier and filtration system with a 1600 gallon capacity, with its respective PLC, online humidity monitoring, extra boosters and heaters, installed in its own transportation unit with an incorporated oil testing lab to offer the best service for our clients.
  • 2009 – A 40 ton overhead crane is installed at the workshop for the movement of large power transformers.
  • 2010 –Matthew Heilbron Ruff is the first South American to be awarded with TS1 Transformer Specialist 1 ,TS2 Transformer Specialist 2 and MTS Master Transformer Specialist with the S.D Myers Inc. and Akron’s University, USA.
  • The First International Transformer Seminar “Half Century Transformer” was jointly held with S.D Myers in Barranquilla for the purpose of familiarizing clients nationwide with the processes of oil sampling, oil testing quality and how to understand oil immersed transformers laboratory results. These concepts were not clear for the majority of national service providers. The first DryMaX on-line passive drying systems were acquired. Tradelca is named as a Homologated Workshop by Electricaribe S.A. E.S.P. and is also recongnised as a Siemens Certified Workshop.
  • 2011 – The first on-line passive oil drying, controlled and monitored remotely, was performed on a 115/22,9 KV 70 MVA transformer. The Second International Transformer Seminar “Half Century Transformer” was held in the city of Medellin with S.D. Myers.
  • Tradelca participated as an exhibitor in “The First Latin-American Transformer Symposium”, held in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), with S.D. Myers Inc., Cooper Power Systems, Dobble, ERTS, Eminsa, NMC and PARC. The exhibition was attended by engineers from nine different Latin-American countries.