Hyosung Heavy Industries exports GIS to Malaysia from India plant, accelerating Southeast Asia push

Hyosung Heavy Industries is stepping up its push into Southeast Asia after its India subsidiary made its first direct export of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) to Malaysia's power grid market. GIS units safely interrupt excessive current flows and serve as core transmission and transformation equipment, handling both switching and protection functions in power networks.

Hyosung T&D India, the company's local subsidiary, recently supplied 132-kilovolt (kV) GIS units for the Amazon Nilai Project, an initiative led by Malaysia's national utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Hyosung Heavy Industries said Tuesday. It was the subsidiary's first order from Malaysia, and the financial terms were not disclosed. The company said the contract "demonstrates the technical capability and manufacturing competitiveness of the India subsidiary and will support future business expansion across the Asia-Pacific region."

The Malaysia export is significant because the Pune factory has grown beyond a domestic supply base into a direct export hub. Hyosung Heavy Industries supplies GIS products to major markets worldwide, including North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The company currently runs a two-track GIS production system, manufacturing at its Changwon factory in South Korea and its Pune factory in India. The Pune facility was established in 2016 in Pune, Maharashtra, on a 56,100-square-meter site with a total floor area of 16,500 square meters, and has served as a key supply hub for power infrastructure across India, South Asia and the Middle East.

The Pune factory has cemented its position in India's domestic market, holding roughly a 50 percent share of the GIS segment and more than 90 percent of the ultra-high-voltage GIS segment rated at 800kV and above. A company official said the factory was originally built to serve the Indian domestic market, adding, "Domestic demand accounts for the majority of output, but we also pursue exports when price and delivery conditions are favorable."

Hyosung T&D India recently signed a contract to supply 400kV GIS for the Hyderabad CtrlS Chandanvelly Hyperscale Data Center Park Project, described as India's largest next-generation digital infrastructure development, and is now expanding exports into Southeast Asia. Because GIS units offer high space efficiency, they are widely used in urban substations and advanced industrial facilities, making Southeast Asia a promising market.

Meanwhile, Hyosung Heavy Industries has been securing a string of orders across the Asia-Pacific region on the back of rising demand for power equipment. In March, it won a 142.5 billion won ($99.4 million) ESS project in Queensland, Australia. On July 1, it signed a long-term supply contract worth about 310 billion won with AusNet, the sole transmission network operator in Victoria, Australia, covering ultra-high-voltage transformers, reactors and other power equipment.

The order momentum is translating directly into earnings growth. Hyosung Heavy Industries' heavy industry division posted a preliminary operating profit of 229.8 billion won in the second quarter of this year, up 36.4 percent from a year earlier. New orders in the second quarter reached 3.32 trillion won, and the order backlog stood at approximately 17.5 trillion won — a record high driven by expanded orders centered on the US market. In its investor relations materials, the company cited continued growth in GIS orders from India as one of the key quarter-on-quarter changes in new orders for the heavy industry division.