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S Korea electric firm HD Hyundai targets $4.22b on AI demand
HD Hyundai Electric, a South Korean electrical equipment maker, has set an order target of US$4.22 billion for 2026.
The company said this represents a 10.5% rise from its 2025 goal as demand from AI data centers and electrification projects grows.
HD Hyundai Electric is also targeting sales of 4.35 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) for 2026, up 11.8% from its 2025 target.
To address higher demand, the firm plans to expand production in South Korea and the US and broaden its business portfolio and export markets.
On January 6, it signed a 98.3 billion-won (US$68 million) deal with an undisclosed US utility to supply 765-kilovolt high-voltage transformers by 2028.
🔗 Source: Yonhap
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
765-kV transformer wait times may constrain HD Hyundai’s 2026 targets
- HD Hyundai Electric aims for 2026 orders of $4.2 billion and sales of $3.1 billion. Targets imply increases of 10.5% and 11.8%. It skips a 12.48 trillion won order backlog (contracts won but not yet fulfilled) as of Q3 2025 1.
- The Alabama plant makes 110 ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transformers a year and plans to reach 150 in 2026. Ulsan in South Korea will reach 360 units 2. January 6 delivery runs to 2028, implying about three years.
- The company plans to expand the Alabama site by 2027 3. Trade press says the goal is more 765-kV output 4. Details on capacity and margin (profitability) impact remain scarce.
UHV buildouts open work for component makers and EPC firms
- Texas utilities plan 300-mile Howard-Solstice line 5, and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) approved 949 miles of 765-kV lines worth $8.6 billion 6. Oncor (a Texas transmission and distribution utility) has four 765-kV projects slated for 2028 to 2030 7.
- EPC firms can pursue work in SPP and Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). These lines need 140 to 160 foot steel lattice towers 8 and 200 foot rights-of-way (the cleared land corridors), which few contractors have built at this voltage.
- Few companies build 765-kV transformers, which keeps competition thin 3. Logistics firms that move oversized units weighing hundreds of tons can win high-value work as Korean firms like HD Hyundai source locally to avoid 50% steel and aluminum tariffs 1.
