They are in the electrical substations of almost all companies in Spain (those cement booths at the bottom of the road that adorn the base of an electrical tower). Automatic doors separating AVE wagons, train spark plugs and even windshield wipers. Also on Alstom or Siemens vehicles. And above all in industrial machinery of high-tech companies that need customized solutions. They now want their names to appear on electric vehicle chargers in shopping malls, hotels or charging stations, which is the fastest way for such vehicles to take hold in Spain in the eyes of the Catalan family business.
Generally speaking, Premium PSU designs and manufactures power conversion systems. “Think of a mobile charger” contextualizes the CEO of this SMB, Jordi Gazo. “A power supply that takes the alternate power from the household plugs and converts it into continuous power to power the phone: we do the same, but on an industrial level,” he synthesizes.
They have been doing this since 1981, when Premo Group began collecting requests from customers interested in customized solutions. This then-eight-company conglomerate launched the Premium PSU with this industry in mind, and things went so well that after about 25 years the owner family sold everything but this company with a turnover of several million Euros. Today, 15 years later, with a workforce of 110, Premium aims to sell for 16 million Euros this year and plans to double that figure to 30 million Euros in two years.
To do this, they launched two new lines of business. The first will develop rectifier cabinets for power companies, a product that essentially costs five times more than what is currently in development. The second unit, which they call Floox, is meant to formalize their entry into the electric mobility market.
“We entered the fast charging industry, it’s a technically very complex product with high added value, where we enable the user to charge the car in less than half an hour.” soda. “These types of fast and ultra-fast chargers are found in passers-by, not the ones seen in private parking lots that can take between 8 and 20 hours to charge the car,” explains this executive. It won’t go away, as fast chargers are the key to encouraging people to buy electric vehicles.
The company, which has invested 1.5 million euros in this space and will hire 15 people to meet it, already has three different power chargers and is in talks with large companies interested in purchasing them.
“We’re also designing more chargers with other strengths and features, and then we have two lines of research: the bidirectional charger. [que permite al coche devolver energía a la red] and wireless charging” advances the CEO of Premium. In the first, if the job is to adapt technology already used in the rail industry, in the second, the obstacle is technological.
The Premium PSU is clear that the future of electric charging is the elimination of cables, and they plan to respond to this trend with an induction system, but the biggest problem with bringing this technology into the mobility space is having a charging source installed. ground and car is a distance gap that causes a significant energy loss. Despite the challenges, the company is investigating with the intention of getting the first signs that this technology is possible next year.
“There are two other possible lines of business we’ve explored,” he admits of his future. “And we are making strategic plans to grow in the years ahead: after all, every industry, every sector and every machine needs an energy conversion system.” sodaConsidering the scrutiny of the renewable energy sector as one of the sectors with the most downswing .