Theses›Energy›Solid-state transformers

Solid-state transformers

The conventional-transformer shortage plus the 800 VDC datacentre migration (NVIDIA/OCP standard, committed Oct 2025-Mar 2026, deployment from 2027) opens a venture-scale market for wide-bandgap solid-state transformers (MV-in to HVDC-to-rack).

  • Bull
  • Closing
  • $5.9B by 2035

The call800V DC racks need grid power turned straight into DC and no incumbent ships the product, so the market is real; the first companies are already priced past seed.

D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst D1D2R1R2R3C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the drivers.
  1. D1NVIDIA and OCP committed to 800V DC racks with dates, so every AI hall needs a medium-voltage-to-800V DC converter as a specified product.
  2. D2Iron-core transformers and their rectifier chains are big, scarce and convert in several lossy stages, and no grid major ships a solid-state replacement.
  3. R1Zero sites run 800V DC at scale today, the first Kyber racks are 2027, and a sizing miss and a deployment slip are the same risk.
  4. R2The first companies are already priced high: $285M across four startups in 12 months, with Heron, the only EU name, at a $140M Series B.
  5. R3If Eaton, ABB or Siemens Energy ships a medium-voltage SST for datacentres by mid-2028, the startup stage collapses to component supply.
  6. C1NVIDIA's Kyber 800V DC racks reach full production, and every AI hall built after that needs a medium-voltage-to-800V DC conversion stage.2027
Rests onthe beliefs underneath
Supported by · confidence
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
202720282029today123456predictionswatch 202720282029today123456predictionswatch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1By 2027-12-31 Heron Power ships production MV-to-800VDC SST units into at least one operating hyperscale/neocloud site (not a pilot).Dec 2027 · open
  2. 2Heron ships production medium-voltage-to-800V DC units into an operating hyperscale site, not a pilot.Dec 2027 · open
  3. 3By 2028-06-30 at least one of ABB / Eaton / Siemens Energy / Hitachi Energy / Schneider announces a SHIPPING MV solid-state transformer product for datacentres (not a reference design).Jun 2028 · open
  4. 4ABB, Eaton, Siemens Energy, Hitachi or Schneider announces a shipping medium-voltage SST for datacentres.Jun 2028 · open
  5. 5By 2028-12-31 at least 5 GW of operating AI datacentre capacity runs on 800 VDC distribution.Dec 2028 · open
  6. 65 GW of AI datacentre capacity running on 800V DC, and a disclosed SST price or revenue print that fixes dollars per watt.Dec 2028 · open
Expressionslisted, private, technologies
  • 6501.THitachi
    • full
  • ABBN.SWABB
    • fair
  • ENR.DESiemens Energy
    • cheap
  • ETNEaton
    • full
  • NVTSNavitas Semiconductor
    • speculative
     GaN + SiC for AI power supplies — datacenter PSU efficiency.
  • SU.PASchneider Electric
    • fair
     MV/LV power conversion and 800 VDC datacentre power systems sold to datacentre operators and utilities.
  • 6503.TMitsubishi Electric
    • not screened
     Power-electronic traction and grid conversion equipment sold to rail operators and utilities.
  • GEVGE Vernova
    • full
     Grid power conversion equipment sold to utilities; spun out of GE, so incumbent-class despite its date.
Private · 4 private companies, 3 of them in the US; none in continental Europe.

Heron Power · Amperesand · DG Matrix · Resilient Power Systems

1 more private company tracked, not shown

Technologies
Who has already bet on itprivate rounds, from public sources

$326M raised by 4 companies, $286M of it in the last three years. Wave under way: Large rounds in the last three years; the category is funded and getting crowded.

Backed by a top-tier venture firm: Heron Power, Amperesand. Backed by a strategic investor: DG Matrix.

  • $140MHeron Power
    • Founded 2024
     Series B, Feb 2026 $140M (Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism Fund), Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group)
  • $100MDG Matrix
    • Founded 2022
     Series A, Feb 2026 $60M (Engine Ventures, Helios Climate Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
  • $80MAmperesand
    • Founded 2023
     Series A, Nov 2025 $80M (Walden Catalyst Ventures, Temasek)
  • $6MResilient Power Systems
    • Founded 2015
     Seed, Oct 2021 $5M (Energy Transition Ventures)
What changedthe record, newest first
  • 4 Jul 2026Every big grid-equipment maker signed up to NVIDIA's 800-volt DC datacentre standard, and none of them has announced the solid-state transformer product it implies; their money is going into conventional transformer capacity, where 128-week lead times keep prices high. 4 startups raised $285M+ in 12 months to fill exactly that gap, and one of them sits in NVIDIA's reference stack by name. The analyst market numbers ($0.2-0.9B by 2030) look stale against a single startup planning a 40 GW/yr factory.