Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Hyosung breaks ground on high-voltage transformer plant
Participants applaud during Hyosung Heavy Industries' groundbreaking ceremony for a new high-voltage direct current transformer facility in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. Starting third from left to right is Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Ho-hyeon; People Power Party Rep. Kim Jong-yang; Hyosung Group Vice Chairman Lee Sang-woon; and Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Huh Sung-moo. Courtesy of Hyosung
By Nam Hyun-woo
Hyosung broke ground Wednesday on a manufacturing base for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transformers in a bid to secure market leadership in key future power grid technologies with homegrown capabilities.
Hyosung Heavy Industries held the groundbreaking ceremony for the HVDC transformer manufacturing facility at its plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.
The facility will span 29,600 square meters within the Changwon plant and is scheduled for completion by July 2027.
Hyosung Heavy Industries plans to invest a total of 330 billion won ($238.8 million) in its HVDC business over the next two years.
The investment includes 254 billion won for the construction of the manufacturing facility, as well as the expansion of production facilities for large-capacity voltage-sourced converter systems, a core component of HVDC.
“Foreign companies have long been taking leadership in the voltage-sourced HVDC technology, but developing it domestically is crucial for Korea to stay competitive in next-generation power transmission and turn it into a key export sector,” Hyosung Vice Chairman Lee Sang-woon said during the ceremony.
“As Korea’s leading energy solutions provider, Hyosung Heavy Industries has the capabilities and experience to spearhead the localization of HVDC technology and elevate the global standing of Korea’s electric power industry.”
HVDC technology enables power transmission over long distances with minimal energy loss compared to conventional high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) systems. Hyosung said its voltage-sourced HVDC technology developed is gaining growing global attention for its compatibility with renewable energy sources.
Currently, only a few global electric equipment companies own HVDC technologies, giving them a monopoly in the global market. Hyosung Heavy Industries began developing its own HVDC systems in 2017, investing a total of 100 billion won, and successfully localized the technology last year.
The localization came as a result of Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s persistent investments in the electricity market, which faced a downturn in the 2010s.
At the time, Hyosung Heavy Industries was criticized as a money-losing operation amid poor earnings and mounting deficits, but Cho has stressed that “HVDC is the most critical and we must become No. 1 in the world through utilizing our growth potential.”
Industry officials note that continued investments have now positioned the company to compete on par with global players like GE and Siemens.
Hyosung Heavy Industries said it will continue to improve its presence in the HVDC market by developing 2 gigawatt-level large-scale HVDC transformers.
The company expects the total transformer production capacity at the Changwon plant to grow by 20 percent from 2028, successfully matching the growth in demand for both the HVDC and HVAC markets.
The global HVDC market is projected to grow from approximately $12.2 billion in 2024 to around $26.4 billion by 2034, with an average annual growth rate of 8.1 percent over the next decade.
Hyosung said the HVDC business is also projected to play a key role in the Lee Jae Myung administration’s “West Coast Energy Highway” initiative, which aims to connect renewable energy complexes from the southwestern region to the Seoul metropolitan area via a high-efficiency power grid by 2030.