National Industri and Richard Pfeifer

The Very Beginning

Richard Pfeifer (RP) was established in Sarpsborg, a city located in southeastern Norway, in February 1920. In the very beginning, the company produced new power transformers for the Norwegian market.

In 1970, Richard Pfeifer was acquired by National Industri (NI), which shifted the production focus from power transformers to industrial special transformers (shell type). NI set its sights on the global market—and succeeded. The company exported furnace and rectifier transformers worldwide and, by the end of 1988, had become the world leader in furnace transformer production.

National Industri was incorporated into ABB in 1988. In 1994, ABB decided to close the Sarpsborg plant and move operations to Drammen. Many employees relocated with the company, but not all. Some former employees of National Industri and ABB chose to continue transformer production in Sarpsborg, leading to the establishment of Norsk Trafo Service (NTS) in 1996.