Hyosung Heavy Industries (298040) has completed a new ultra-high-voltage circuit breaker plant to meet rising global demand for power equipment.
The company said on Oct. 16 that it had completed the plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, doubling its production capacity. The new facility spans about 18,996 square meters and will produce 420-kilovolt, 550-kilovolt and 800-kilovolt breakers for export.
Hyosung Heavy Industries will split its production system in two, reorganizing its existing breaker plant around models for the domestic market while the new plant handles only ultra-high-voltage breakers of 420 kilovolts and above for export. The company also built a one-stop mass-production system that carries out every stage — from parts manufacturing to assembly, testing and shipment — at a single site.
Along with breaker output, capacity for insulation materials, a core component, will also double. Hyosung Heavy Industries is the only power equipment maker in South Korea that produces insulation materials in-house. The company said the new plant improves both production efficiency and its ability to meet delivery schedules for large global orders.
Hyosung Heavy Industries plans to keep expanding ultra-high-voltage breaker supply in major power markets, drawing on the new plant and on production facilities in India and the United States. In Europe, it will strengthen cooperation with local power technology institutions through its European research and development center in the Netherlands, and expand its market presence with eco-friendly and customized products. In the United States, it established a joint venture with Quanta in June, becoming the first South Korean company to secure a local production base.
Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon has called for building up supply capacity ahead of growing global demand, judging that power infrastructure is becoming more important in the age of artificial intelligence. "The explosive growth of the AI industry will inevitably overload global power grids," Cho said. "Through pre-emptive supply chain investment, we must change the market landscape and become the key partner that resolves the AI bottleneck for global customers."
About 300 people attended the ceremony, including Hyosung Vice Chairman Lee Sang-woon, Rep. Heo Sung-moo of the Democratic Party of Korea, Rep. Kim Jong-yang of the People Power Party, and Kang Sang-hee, president of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute.
