HD Hyundai Electric to build 3rd circuit breaker factory

HD Hyundai Electric Co., a South Korean electric power distribution equipment manufacturer, will spend 120 billion won ($89 million) to build its third factory of low and medium-voltage circuit breakers to double its production capacity of those devices in strong demand.

On Tuesday, it broke ground on the factory in Central Valley General Industrial Complex in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

The smart factory, scheduled for completion by October next year, will have an annual capacity of 6.5 million circuit breakers by 2030, said HD Hyundai.

With the addition of the factory, HD Hyundai Electric will be able to double the production capacity of the devices to 13 million units annually by 2030.

It currently operates two circuit breaker plants: one in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province and the other in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.

Low and medium-voltage circuit breakers distribute and supply transmitted electric power. They also block the inflow of additional power for overcurrent protection.

The expansion of AI-driven data centers and replacement demand for outdated power equipment from the US are fueling the demand for circuit breakers.

"After power transformers, power distribution equipment will become a next key market," said an HD Hyundai Electric official.

HD Hyundai Electric, a unit of the world’s largest shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., will automate production lines and logistics of the new plant. To do so, it will adopt AI-based systematic supply chain management from demand forecasting to the management of raw materials and finished products.

“This new factory will be born as a world-class power distribution equipment production base that combines cutting-edge technology and automation systems, Kwon Oh-gap, chairman of HD Hyundai Co., a holding company of the shipbuilding group, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

HD Hyundai Electric also plans to increase its production capacity of transformers that transfer electric power from one circuit to another.

It has been expanding its electric transformer factory in Ulsan. In July, it broke ground on a transformer storage facility to be built next to the transformer plant in the US state of Alabama.

Write to Woo-Sub Kim at duter@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.