Hyosung Heavy Industries said Wednesday it will supply ultra-high-voltage transformers for a hydropower project in Brazil and jointly develop a STATCOM (static synchronous compensator) with a local partner.
The company secured an order Tuesday from Andritz Hydro LTDA, a specialist in hydropower and power generation equipment, for six 500-kilovolt (kV) ultra-high-voltage transformers to be used at the Foz do Areia hydropower plant in Brazil's Paraná state.
Brazil generates more than 60 percent of its electricity from hydropower and has been expanding generation capacity in response to surging power demand driven by AI. Andritz Hydro accounts for more than 25 percent of Brazil's total hydropower capacity.
Hyosung Heavy Industries also signed an MOU with Andritz Hydro on Tuesday for cooperation on STATCOM development. The two companies agreed to develop a "hybrid STATCOM" by combining Hyosung Heavy Industries' STATCOM — an electronics-based power control device — with Andritz Hydro's synchronous condenser, a rotating-machinery unit that stabilizes the power grid. The two technologies produce complementary effects when combined.
The companies also agreed to build a long-term partnership, using their combined technological capabilities to establish an early foothold in the Latin American power stabilization market.
klee@heraldcorp.com
