LS Group is providing integrated solutions in the national power grid project the government is pursuing to meet the surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and the expansion of data centers that will support AI's growth, leveraging its technological strength across power infrastructure covering transmission, substation, and distribution.
According to the business community on the 2nd, LS Cable & System and LS Marine Solution strengthened their bidding competitiveness by promoting a turnkey (one-stop supply) solution that handles everything from producing to laying submarine cables. LS Electric is accelerating large orders with its know-how in producing converters and transformers for high-voltage direct current (HVDC).
LS Group's technological strength in power infrastructure is necessary for the early realization of the current administration's core project, the "West Coast energy expressway." LS Group is the only domestic player with experience installing HVDC submarine cables from Jeju to South Jeolla. Only six corporations worldwide, including LS, have commercialized long-distance submarine HVDC cables.
HVDC has lower transmission losses than alternating current and can deliver up to three times more power over long distances, making it a key technology cited for addressing the surge in electricity demand in the AI era. To send electricity via HVDC, the alternating current (AC) before transmission must be converted to direct current (DC), and then converted back to AC at the receiving end. LS Electric succeeded in commercializing an HVDC transformer for the first time in Korea and is pursuing orders for the product.
In Jul. last year, LS Cable & System secured one of Asia's largest HVDC facilities by completing Plant No. 5 within its submarine cable factory in Donghae, Gangwon Province, expanding HVDC submarine cable production capacity to more than four times the previous level. In Nov. last year, in the Korea Electric Power Corporation's "East Coast–Shin Gapyeong" transmission network construction project, the company began work applying the world's first commercialized 500 kV 90℃ (high-temperature) HVDC cable. LS Cable & System has carried out all domestic HVDC cable projects, including Jeju–Jindo, Jeju–Wando, and Northern Dangjin–Godeok, and will be the sole supplier for the entire "East Coast–Shin Gapyeong" transmission network construction project as well.
Earlier, LS Cable & System and LS Marine Solution each signed contracts to supply and install submarine cables for the "Anma offshore wind project" being promoted in waters near Anmado, Yeonggwang, South Jeolla. Under the arrangement, LS Cable & System supplies the submarine cables, and LS Marine Solution lays the cables between the wind farm and the mainland.
In Jun. last year, LS Cable & System was selected as the preferred bidder to supply submarine cables for the "Haesong offshore wind project," the largest among domestic offshore wind development projects at a total scale of 1 gigawatt (GW). LS plans to leverage its execution capability in the Haesong offshore wind project to gain an edge in bidding for large national power grid projects such as the West Coast energy expressway.
In Jun. last year, LS Marine Solution signed a final contract with Tersan Shipyard in Türkiye to build a submarine cable laying vessel. LS Marine Solution began construction of an ultra-large HVDC (high-voltage direct current) cable-laying vessel with a cable load capacity of 13,000 tons and a total tonnage of 18,800 tons. With the new laying vessel, LS Marine Solution plans to actively respond to demand not only in domestic strategic projects such as the West Coast energy expressway but also in European and North American offshore wind and ultra-long-distance submarine network construction.
LS Electric is also preparing for the West Coast energy expressway project based on its experience with converter transformer (CTR) projects for HVDC. LS Electric invested 100.8 billion won and recently completed the expansion of its No. 2 production building—10,059 square meters (5,463 pyeong) of total floor area—within its Busan business sites, and has begun production. The expanded No. 2 building has 1.3 times the total floor area of No. 1 and about 2.3 times the production capacity (CAPA). With this expansion, LS Electric's Busan business sites' production capacity for extra-high-voltage transformers will grow from 200 billion won to 600 billion won per year. The Busan business sites is Korea's only production base for HVDC converter transformers, and with the completion of the No. 2 building, the company plans to respond swiftly to the government's HVDC transmission network construction needs.
LS Electric completed development of a 500-megawatt (MW) class voltage-source transformer, successfully passing both development and acceptance tests, and is awaiting commercial operation. This is the largest capacity among voltage-source transformers developed in Korea and is scheduled to be applied to the "Shin Bupyeong HVDC converter station" that Korea Electric Power Corporation is promoting in Galsan-dong, Bupyeong-gu.
In Jan. this year, LS Cable & System signed a contract with KEPCO at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, United States, for "commercializing cable condition assessment technology (SFL-R) and jointly entering the global market." The core of the contract is applying KEPCO's SFL-R technology to the underground/submarine cable asset management platform operated by LS Cable & System. SFL-R uses real-time current monitoring and noise reduction techniques to locate faults with more than 99% accuracy when a cable fails, and it is currently in operation on major power grids, including Jeju HVDC.