LSIS Inaugurates Busan HVDC Plant, a Prime Power Transmission Tech

Seeks to penetrate the international market beyond technology localization and hit 1.7 trillion won in annual sales by 2019

LSIS has completed the construction of the very first HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) transmission system in Korea.
LSIS held the HVDC Busan plant completion ceremony with about 300 people in attendance, including LSIS Vice Chairman Koo Ja-kyun, public officials and personnel of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Busan Metropolitan City, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation, in the Hwajeon Industrial Complex within the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone on Oct. 24.
The HVDC Busan Plant was built on a site covering 1,157 square meters (3,375 pyeong) and has a total floor area of 5,910 square meters (1,788 pyeong).
The plant, which required an investment of 110 billion won, consists of an insulation test building that can carry out test procedures for different standards, including insulation and synthesizing test facilities and a cooling system, and a utility building for various types of facility control, including power receiving and transforming facilities and power monitoring facilities.
Notably, the Busan plant now has a production line for thyristor valves, key pieces of equipment for HVDC to convert A/C into D/C and vice versa. Therefore, the plant can cover the entire production process ranging from parts warehousing, performance inspection and assembly to testing and test runs.
LSIS acquired the capacity to provide total solutions for HVDC systems through key parts production in the transformer plant in Busan and in the HVDC Busan Plant for thyristor valves.
In particular, LSIS is expected to establish smart grid infrastructure in the future and to consolidate its global competitiveness, given that the company will be equipped with the full lineup of AC and DC power facilities ranging from low to high voltages.
Furthermore, the foundations have been laid for LS Group to take off as a company equipped with top HVDC competitiveness, considering that LS Cable & System's HVDC seabed cable needs to be linked as part of the HVDC system.
LSIS Vice Chairman Koo said, "LSIS can create a synergy effect with the existing high voltage transformer business through the completion of the Busan plant, and has established the infrastructure for HVDC products production and testing, which can become one axis in the smart grid era at the LS Group level." He continued, "It is meaningful that a long term and solid growth engine has been secured to help LSIS take off as a global number one company in green business."
Koo emphasized, "HVDC's market size is projected to increase more than tenfold during the next 20 years, thanks to soaring global power demand, the expansion of DC power transmission and distribution systems, and new renewable energy system linkage." He added, "We will actively nurture HVDC, for which some global companies had a virtual monopoly on supply, while localizing various technologies in Busan, and thereby writing a new chapter in the power industry."
LSIS plans to aggressively penetrate the world and domestic markets by developing 80kV, 250kV and 50kV class products, centered on the HVDC Plant.
The world HVDC market is currently worth about 9 trillion won, and it is predicted to continue growing due to an increase in demand for long-distance power transmission in China, India, and South America; the expansion of new renewable energy sources including offshore wind power; and the augmentation of system networks linkage between countries.
However, three global companies ―ABB, Siemens and Alstom ―currently control 95 percent of the market share, and LSIS is targeting a maximum 1.75 trillion won of sales in the HVDC field by 2019 as the first Korean company to have entered the HVDC market.
In particular, LSIS plans to develop the HVDC field as part of its solid axis of green businesses with the completion of the Busan plant.
MARKET CONDITIONS - The HVDC market is expected to expand at least tenfold during the next 20 years, and grow to an annual figure of US$14 billion.
Continual growth is forecast in the market thanks to the rising demand for long-distance power transmission (China, India, South America), the augmentation of offshore wind power (Europe), the expansion of system linkage between countries (Europe), and the increasing demand for global system stabilization and smart grid activation.
Although various types of power equipment and turn-key solution business capabilities can be secured in the market, the entry barrier is very high, since highly advanced technologies are required. nw

LSIS celebrates the completion of the construction of the very first High Voltage Direct Current transmission system in Korea at a ceremony on Oct. 24.
Photo on courtesy of LSIS