HD Hyundai Electric is seeking to strengthen its competitiveness in the distribution equipment sector by establishing a smart factory for low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers.

HD Hyundai announced on the 3rd that it held a ‘groundbreaking ceremony for a new low- and medium-voltage circuit breaker factory’ at the new factory site in Cheongju Central Valley. Attending the event were North Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Young-hwan, Cheongju Mayor Lee Beom-seok, HD Hyundai Chairman Kwon Oh-gap, and HD Hyundai Electric President Cho Seok.

The new factory being built this time will be built as a smart factory with the latest automation system and is scheduled to be completed in October 2025. HD Hyundai Electric’s goal is to automate production lines and logistics through smart factories and secure manufacturing competitiveness through AI-based systematic supply chain management, including demand forecasting and management of materials and finished products.

As demand for electricity increases significantly due to the expansion of data centers due to the spread of AI technology, investment in electricity infrastructure is gradually becoming active. In particular, the distribution equipment market, which distributes and supplies power transmitted from power plants to demand sites, is attracting attention as a next-generation core market following electric power equipment.

A low-to-medium voltage circuit breaker is a type of distribution device that distributes and supplies transmitted power, and its role is to block additional power inflow when a power load occurs. HD Hyundai Electric plans to expand its production capacity of low- and medium-voltage circuit breakers to 13 million units by 2030, twice the current level, through the establishment of a new factory. Once completed, it is expected to contribute to strengthening global competitiveness and revitalizing the local economy, including creating jobs.

Chairman Kwon Oh-gap, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony on this day, said, “The new factory will be reborn as a world-class power distribution equipment production base that combines cutting-edge technology and automation systems,” and added, “We will create quality jobs in the Cheongju area with coexistence with the local community as our top priority.” “I will contribute to the development of the local economy,” he said.

Kim Young-hwan, Governor of North Chungcheong Province, said, “I am very pleased that HD Hyundai Electric, which has global competitiveness, is building a new technology-intensive smart factory factory in our region, which is the future growth engine.”

Meanwhile, HD Hyundai Electric is also pursuing expansion of transformer factories at home and abroad. Last July, a completion ceremony was held for the transformer storage facility of the North American production corporation in Alabama, USA, and HD Hyundai Electric, located in Ulsan, is also in the process of changing the transformer factory layout and building a new iron core factory.

Reporter Go Young-wook yyko@wowtv.co.kr