As Hyosung Heavy Industries won its first battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Australia worth 142.5 billion won, there is an assessment that Chairman Cho Hyun-joon of Hyosung's global network laid the groundwork for the deal.
On the 12th, according to Hyosung, Hyosung Heavy Industries the previous day signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a 100MW/200MWh-class BESS in the Tangkam area of Queensland, Australia. The contract is worth 142.5 billion won, equivalent to 2.9% of Hyosung Heavy Industries' 2024 consolidation sales of 4.895 trillion won. The project aims to begin commercial operation at the end of 2027.
Hyosung Heavy Industries will handle the entire process, from BESS design and supply to civil works, installation and commissioning, and is pushing the project with the goal of starting commercial operation at the end of 2027.
To win this order, Chairman Cho maintained broad exchanges, meeting in succession with executives of major local utilities in Australia and senior government officials involved in energy policy. Last year, Cho visited Washington, D.C., and discussed Australian energy infrastructure issues with political and business leaders including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (Australian Ambassador to the United States). In Jan., Cho met with a delegation including Business Council of Australia (BCA) Chief Executive Brendon Black to seek cooperation plans.
The effects of this on-the-ground management are translating into orders. Since the start of the year, Hyosung Heavy Industries has signed power equipment contracts across the world, not only in Australia but also in the United States and Europe. Last month, it won a record $787 billion won power equipment supply deal in the United States since its founding, and in Finland it signed a long-term supply contract for ultra-high-voltage transformers worth 29 billion won.
Using this order as a springboard, Hyosung Heavy Industries plans to accelerate its push into Australia's power grid market by advancing its STATCOM (static synchronous compensator) and HVDC (high-voltage direct current) technologies. Recently, the company implemented the world's largest 1 GVar STATCOM and, with domestically developed proprietary technology for voltage-source HVDC for the first time, installed it at the Yangju substation, bolstering its technological competitiveness.
Chairman Cho said, "Going forward, competitiveness in the power industry will be determined by solutions that can control the entire grid," adding, "We will lead exports by combining the strong trust we have built in ultra-high-voltage transformers and circuit breakers with core future technologies."