Three Korean electric power equipment companies — Hyosung Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Electric, and LS Electric — are actively targeting the North American and European ultra-high voltage circuit-breaker markets.
Hyosung Heavy Industries announced that it will invest a total of KRW 100 billion to build a new plant in Changwon, Gyeongnam, which is dedicated to producing ultra-high voltage circuit breakers for export.
The new plant, scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2026, will produce 420, 550, and 800kV ultra-high voltage circuit breakers exclusively for export. These products will be supplied to global markets including the USA, Europe and the Middle East. Upon completion, Hyosung Heavy Industries’ capacity to produce ultra-high voltage circuit breakers will increase by approximately 1.5 times compared to its previous capacity.
Hyosung Heavy Industries is also expanding its circuit breaker plant in Pune, India. As the world’s third-largest power producer, India’s power-grid is being modernized in full swing, and demand for ultra-high voltage circuit breakers is rapidly increasing.
Hyosung Heavy Industries is leading the market, becoming the first Korean company to surpass KRW 10 trillion in cumulative circuit-breaker production this year. In July, it secured KRW 264 million in orders, the highest ever, for ultra-high voltage circuit breakers from a major U.S. electric power company.
Circuit breakers are devices that protect equipment and human lives by breaking an electric current in the event of power-system failures or abnormal currents at power plants and substations. They also act as a ‘fuse room’ in people’s homes.
HD Hyundai Electric has also been expanding its circuit-breaker business recently. The company signed a contract earlier last month with a Finnish design, procurement and construction company to supply 14 units of 145kV ‘SF6-Free’ high-voltage circuit breakers. This marks the second order secured in Europe, following a contract with Sweden concluded in May.
HD Hyundai Electric previously supplied high-voltage circuit breakers for projects such as a new city project in NEOM City in Saudi Arabia and a new city development project in the Diriyah archaeological site. It also received a KRW 64.4 billion order of ultra-high voltage circuit breakers in Korea for Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek semiconductor plant. Performance verification of the company’s 420kV eco-friendly high-voltage circuit breaker is currently underway, aiming to obtain a certification in the first half of 2026.
LS Electric is accelerating its efforts to target the eco-friendly gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) market. A GIS is a complex power system that integrates circuit breakers and disconnectors into a single unit, and can be considered a type of circuit breaker. An LS Electric official explained, “We are proactively targeting the eco-friendly, over 170kV large-capacity GIS market, which even major global companies such as Siemens have not yet marketed.”
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