LS Electric to form joint venture with America’s GE Vernova
Hyosung Heavy Industries to establish new factory in Changwon next year
HD Hyundai Electric to localize core technologies

Amid a boom in the power infrastructure industry driven by demand for power-grid replacements in North America and a surge in demand fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), Korean companies have identified the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) market as their next growth engine and are striving to strengthen their competitiveness.
LS Electric recently announced at CIGRE 2026, the world’s largest power-grid technology exhibition held in Paris, France, that it has signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S. power infrastructure company GE Vernova to establish a voltage source converter (VSC) HVDC joint venture.
Through the establishment of a joint venture, the two companies will pursue cooperation in the domestic VSC HVDC market, and develop joint solutions and strategies, including the supply of core equipment. They also plan to establish a cooperation framework to enter the global HVDC market.

HVDC is technology that transmits electricity generated at power plants as direct current (DC), drawing attention because it causes less power loss and can transmit more electricity.
Hyosung Heavy Industries demonstrated its technological capabilities by installing Korea’s first independently developed 200 MW VSC HVDC system in 2024 at the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Yangju Substation. Its strengths lie in independently handling everything from system design and production of equipment such as converters, controllers, and transformers to overseas production, and in having a low dependence on foreign technology for its core technologies.
Hyosung Heavy Industries is also building a dedicated HVDC transformer factory at its Changwon plant in South Gyeongsang Province, aiming for completion in July 2027. It is investing approximately KRW 254 billion to expand its manufacturing facilities for high-capacity VSC converter systems, a core component of HVDC.
HD Hyundai Electric is pursuing the localization of core technologies as it was selected as a participating company in the government’s development of transformers for 500 kV-class large-capacity VSC HVDC converter transformers.
HD Hyundai Electric plans to enhance its competitiveness by utilizing the new plant currently under construction within its Ulsan plant as a dedicated production facility for HVDC transformers.

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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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