Hyundai Electric's monthly orders hit record in April

Hyundai Electric & Energy Systems Co., an electric system spinoff from South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., said on May 1 that its monthly orders in April hit a record high of 500 billion won ($395.9 million). The orders came from global power generation, distribution, energy solutions and other sectors in line with increasing investment in renewables and recovery of orders from the Middle East, the company said. Of the 500 billion won, 240 billion won of orders were from the US and the Middle East.

The company has recently received an order for power transformers, for a combined worth of 160 billion won worth, from US’ leading renewable energy generator NextEra Energy Inc. Hyundai Electric will supply US’ solar power plants with its extra-high-voltage transformers, ranging between 115 and 525 kilovolts, from 2024.   

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts the US' utility-scale solar generating capacity to grow by 21.5 gigawatts (GW) this year, the energy research institute said in its January report. This will expand the American market for power transformers, Hyundai Electric’s core product, industry watchers say.   

The Korean company’s order intake from the Middle East reached 80 billion won in April, up 433% compared with the same month of 2021. Saudi Arabia and some other countries, which have secured ample liquidity from increased oil prices, purchased extra-high-voltage transformers as well as power generation facilities.

“Investors are increasingly eyeing eco-friendly power plant facilities in emerging markets as well as in the US and Europe. We will expand our market share with advanced technologies and a wide range of product lineups,” a Hyundai Electric official said.

Hyundai Electric was founded as an electric engineering division of Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1977. Its main products include high-voltage transformers, gas-insulated switchgears, distribution transformers and marine switchgears. In 2018, the company completed building the world’s largest energy storage system (ESS) with a capacity of 150 megawatt-hours (MWh) in Ulsan City, southeastern Korea.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm126@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.