LS ELECTRIC and GE Vernova Form a VSC-HVDC Joint Venture

 On August 26, 2026, LS ELECTRIC announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GE Vernova to establish a joint venture for voltage-source converter (VSC) HVDC. The agreement was signed the previous day in Paris at CIGRE 2026. The joint venture will be called GridX Technology, and the target is Korea's West Coast Energy Highway — a national grid program estimated at around 11 trillion won.

Korea's largest domestic VSC-HVDC converter reference is a 200 MW unit delivered in 2024. Phase 1 of the West Coast project requires 2,000 MW.

The JV splits the work: GE Vernova brings converter valve technology and global project experience, LS ELECTRIC brings domestic delivery experience and manufacturing capacity.

Ownership structure, capital contribution and incorporation date were not disclosed. A signing agreement and a registered company are two different milestones.

What was actually announced

According to the company, the signing ceremony was attended by LS ELECTRIC Chairman Koo Ja-kyun and CEO Chae Dae-seok, alongside GE Vernova's Philippe Piron, CEO of Electrification, and Johan Bindele, CEO of Grid Systems Integration. The name GridX Technology is meant to signal grid Reliability, Integration and eXchange.

The stated scope covers four things: supplying core equipment, jointly delivering domestic projects, developing shared solutions and business strategy, and building a framework for entering global HVDC markets.

One caveat worth stating plainly. This is an agreement to establish a joint venture. Equity split, capital, headquarters and timing have not been published. The sequence runs MOU, then signing agreement, then incorporation, then a first order — and this announcement lands on the second step. For context, the two companies signed a global VSC-HVDC cooperation MOU in January 2024 and a converter valve localization MOU in July 2025, so roughly two and a half years have passed since the first agreement.

Why voltage-source, and why that is hard

HVDC converts alternating current to direct current for transmission and back again at the receiving end. What performs that conversion splits the technology into two families. Line-commutated converters (LCC) use thyristors and are the older, higher-capacity workhorse. Voltage-source converters (VSC) use fully controllable power semiconductors, which allows fast bidirectional power flow control and grid-forming behaviour — properties that matter when the source is offshore wind rather than a thermal plant.

Korea's West Coast project is specified as VSC for exactly that reason, and this is where the domestic supply base is thin. LS ELECTRIC has supplied core equipment to LCC projects — Bukdangjin–Godeok, and the ongoing Donghaean–Seoul metropolitan link — but on the voltage-source side the country's largest converter reference is a 200 MW unit delivered by Hyosung Heavy Industries to the Yangju substation in 2024, as reported in the Korean press.

Phase 1 needs 2,000 MW. Scaling ten times is not a matter of adding ten times the modules: insulation coordination, cooling, fault protection and system stability studies all have to be redone. That is the practical reason a partner with proven references is needed, and it is consistent with reports that KEPCO engaged an overseas technology firm to help define the technical specification.

What a joint venture changes that an MOU does not

The difference is the shape of accountability. An MOU is a statement of intent. A company can be a contracting party — it can bid as a single counterparty covering design, core equipment supply and project execution. For a utility buyer, that matters: the technology source and the delivery obligation stop being separate conversations.

LS ELECTRIC has said it completed localization of HVDC converter transformers and finished development of a 500 MW-class voltage-source converter transformer. Its Busan site handles design, manufacturing and performance testing in one location, which the company describes as Korea's largest HVDC production base. The missing piece has been the converter valve, and that is what the joint venture is aimed at.

The competitive map is not simple, though. GE Vernova already serves the Korean HVDC market through KAPES, its joint venture with KEPCO, which won the LCC scope for the Donghaean #2 to Dong-Seoul converter station. The same technology partner now sits in more than one structure, and how those roles are separated in future tenders is worth watching.

The prize, and who else is chasing it

The West Coast Energy Highway is designed to move renewable power generated in the Honam region and along the west coast to the Seoul metropolitan area. Phase 1 runs roughly 220 km from Saemangeum to Seohwaseong as a 2 GW voltage-source HVDC link, with completion targeted for 2030 and reported cost of about 2.8 trillion won. The full program is estimated in the 11 trillion won range.

Hyosung Heavy Industries, HD Hyundai Electric and Iljin Electric are named in Korean coverage as the other contenders, and the government has set a target of localizing converter equipment by 2027. So bidders are effectively being scored on two axes at once: how far domestic content has progressed, and how quickly credible foreign technology has been secured.

Reading it alongside the data center business

Two days before the JV news, LS ELECTRIC disclosed that a supply contract for AI data center power equipment with a North American big-tech customer had been amended upward to USD 165.72 million (about 230.9 billion won). The original June 8 contract, covering 38 kV-class medium-voltage distribution systems, was 106.4 billion won; the customer asked for more volume and the value more than doubled.

So the company is now running two cycles with very different clocks. North American data center distribution equipment has short lead times and repeat orders. Korean HVDC has long cycles, high entry barriers and multi-year revenue recognition once a position is won. The JV is a bet on the second one.

What to watch next

Area	Confirmed now	Next data point
Joint venture	Strategic agreement to establish GridX Technology	Equity split, capital, incorporation date
Technology	Converter valve scope sits with GE Vernova	How much valve production moves to Korea, and when
Market	Phase 1 at ~KRW 2.8tn, 2030 target	Phase 1 converter equipment tender and award
Data centers	US contract amended to USD 165.72m	Q3 new orders and backlog change

Risks. A signing agreement is not an incorporated company, and terms can stall. National grid projects slip most often on marine permitting and local acceptance, and Phase 1 is already compressed — a schedule originally set for 2031 was pulled forward to 2030. Most importantly, this is qualification to bid, not an order. Until a first contract is disclosed, it belongs in the option column rather than the earnings column.

The headline word here is localization, but the substance is closer to a negotiated compromise between importing technology and building it domestically — which is how most grid supply chains actually mature.

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Sources: LS ELECTRIC announcement and Korean press coverage (August 26, 2026); LS ELECTRIC contract amendment disclosure coverage (August 24, 2026); LS ELECTRIC and GE Vernova MOU coverage (July 24, 2025); GE Vernova press release on the KAPES EP2 award (December 23, 2024); Korean press reporting on the West Coast HVDC project plan (October 2025, February 2026).

This post is for study and information purposes only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Do your own research.