GE Vernova and LS Electric form HVDC venture

GE Vernova and LS Electric have agreed to establish a joint venture focused on voltage-source converter high-voltage direct current technology, combining converter expertise with Korean equipment manufacturing and project delivery.

The companies signed the agreement during the CIGRE 2026 Session in Paris on 25 August. GE Vernova confirmed the venture the following day, while LS Electric said the business is provisionally named Grid X Technology and will initially concentrate on the Korean VSC-HVDC market.

The partners plan to collaborate on core equipment supply and execution of domestic HVDC projects before pursuing wider international opportunities. Korea’s planned West Coast Energy Highway is among the transmission programmes identified by LS Electric as relevant to the partnership.

That programme is intended to move large volumes of renewable electricity generated in Honam and along Korea’s west coast towards the Seoul metropolitan region, creating a transmission requirement that extends beyond adding conventional AC circuits around existing demand centres.

VSC expands control over long-distance power flows

HVDC converts alternating current into direct current for transmission before converting it back to AC at the receiving end. The approach is particularly useful for moving large quantities of electricity over long distances and where submarine or underground cable routes make conventional high-voltage AC transmission less practical.

Voltage-source converter systems use power-electronic switching rather than the thyristor-based architecture associated with traditional line-commutated HVDC. GE Vernova identifies renewable integration, offshore connections, urban infeed, and cable transmission as principal applications for VSC technology.

One of its main operating advantages is independent control of active and reactive power. A converter station can regulate the amount of real power transferred across the DC link while also contributing to voltage management on the surrounding AC network, giving system operators a more controllable transmission asset than a passive line.

VSC can also operate with comparatively weak AC systems. That becomes useful where large renewable developments connect into networks with limited synchronous generation or where the transmission corridor terminates in an area whose electrical strength would make conventional converter arrangements more difficult.

The hardware required remains substantial. Converter valves, converter transformers, reactors, switchgear, cooling, controls, protection, auxiliary power, communications, and civil infrastructure all have to operate as one station, with a corresponding installation at the opposite end of a point-to-point HVDC link.

Digital control therefore sits alongside primary equipment as a critical part of delivery. Converter controls must regulate power flow rapidly while coordinating with protection systems and the surrounding AC network, making software validation, telecommunications, redundancy, and cybersecurity integral to the finished transmission system.

Large HVDC programmes also create supply chain pressure. Converter transformers and other high-voltage equipment have long manufacturing cycles, while qualified power-electronics engineering and factory testing capacity cannot be expanded as quickly as demand for new transmission projects.

The GE Vernova and LS Electric structure addresses that problem by combining an established VSC technology platform with local industrial capability and Korean project experience. It gives the partners a route to increase domestic participation in projects that might otherwise depend more heavily on complete imported converter packages.

Local manufacturing does not remove the need for technology qualification. Components produced for HVDC service still have to meet the electrical, thermal, insulation, reliability, and lifetime requirements defined by the converter design, with factory acceptance testing demonstrating performance before equipment reaches site.

System integration carries another layer of risk. A converter station can contain equipment from several suppliers, while the DC link, AC network, protection systems, and control architecture must perform coherently during normal operation and faults. Responsibility for those interfaces is often as consequential as the individual equipment specifications.

Korea’s grid expansion gives the joint venture a substantial domestic market in which to establish that delivery model. Renewable generation is increasingly being developed away from the largest load centres, requiring new transmission capacity capable of controlling large regional transfers rather than relying solely on incremental reinforcement of existing AC corridors.

HVDC can concentrate those transfers into controllable links, but it does not remove the surrounding network requirement. Converter stations still need strong AC connections, sufficient substation capacity, protection coordination, and transmission routes beyond the HVDC terminals to move electricity to its eventual consumers.

The partnership also arrives as GE Vernova is delivering VSC technology internationally for projects ranging from offshore wind connections to multi-gigawatt land-based transmission corridors. That experience gives Grid X Technology a reference base beyond Korea, while LS Electric brings the domestic project and manufacturing environment in which the venture expects to secure its first work.

The agreement itself creates no new transmission capacity. Grid X Technology still has to be established, qualify its equipment and engineering responsibilities, win individual projects, and commission systems successfully. The scale of Korea’s planned grid development gives the partners an immediate opportunity to demonstrate whether the combination can translate into repeatable HVDC delivery.