Hanwha, Taihan to spur global sales of extra-high voltage cables

Hanwha Solutions Corp., the chemical and renewable energy unit of South Korea’s No. 7 conglomerate Hanwha Group, and Taihan Cable & Solution Co. will join forces to increase domestic production of extra-high voltage cable and cable materials to spur sales in the global energy market.

Hanwha said on Wednesday the company and Taihan have entered into a non-binding agreement to expand their overseas businesses and future growth engines.

They will build a strategic partnership to develop a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system, which is used for long-distance power transmission, and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) for cable insulation, as well as to expand their global sales networks.   

The companies aim to strengthen the competitiveness of made-in-Korea extra-high voltage cables and cable materials to meet surging demand for global power grids, while decreasing the country's reliance on imports of the products.

“As global electricity demand has rapidly increased, it has been very important to collaborate to strengthen the competitive edge of domestic production,” said Hanwha Solutions’ chemical division Chief Executive Nam Yi Hyeon. “Based on the two companies’ capabilities and technologies, we will develop world-class quality products and expand our global market share,” the CEO added.

“We will expand our cooperation with the groups’ affiliates to raise our corporate values and strengthen Korea’s competitiveness in the global (cable) market,” said Taihan Cable CEO Song Jong Min.

Hanwha will improve the quality of its cable materials and raise the proportion of overseas revenue among its total sales through joint marketing activities with Taihan.

The Hanwha Group unit is the world’s third-largest XLPE producer that manufactures around 110,000 tons of the materials annually, following Austrian chemical giant Borealis AG and US chemical products maker Dow Inc.

Taihan is the first Korean company to develop a 500 kilovolt (kV) HVDC land cable and a 525 kV voltage source converter HVDC land cable that can withstand operating temperatures greater than 90 degrees Celsius.

The cable systems, which the Korean government has designated as national core technology, are increasingly used for renewable power generation and super grids, or networks for multinational trade of high volumes of electricity.

Taihan will explore opportunities to build power grids for global renewables through a partnership with Hanwha's solar power affiliate, Hanwha Q Cells Co., Hanwha said. 

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.