Hanwha Solutions Expands Ultra-High Voltage Cable Insulation Material Business

Hanwha Solutions is advancing into the global market with its independently developed ultra-high voltage cable materials.

On the 21st, Hanwha Solutions announced that it will expand its ultra-high voltage cable material business, including 400kV-class XLPE for cables and XLPE for submarine cables, which are the first domestically produced products in Korea.

Cross-section of ultra-high voltage cable (Provided by Hanwha Solutions)

XLPE is a high-purity insulating product made by adding special additives to polyethylene (PE) to enhance heat resistance. It functions to improve the transmission efficiency and durability of power cables and plays a key role in determining the performance of ultra-high voltage cables.

Since 2022, Hanwha Solutions has sequentially obtained quality certifications for ultra-high voltage XLPE products from major domestic cable manufacturers and plans to expand supply to large domestic cable projects as well as export cables overseas.

In response to the rapidly growing submarine cable market driven by increasing demand for renewable energy such as offshore wind power, Hanwha Solutions is also intensifying its market penetration. The XLPE for submarine cables, independently developed by Hanwha Solutions to meet special submarine specifications, has passed product quality certifications from global cable companies and is expanding its export destinations to major countries including the United States and Europe for submarine cable projects.

Hanwha Solutions’ high-voltage cable material business recorded a sales increase of approximately 61% compared to the previous year. This is the best performance ever achieved based on the world’s third-largest XLPE production capacity (about 110,000 tons), following Austria’s Borealis and the United States’ Dow, and high-purity process technology that minimizes foreign substances.

Hanwha Solutions is actively utilizing a diverse cable product portfolio, including the anti-conductive material EBA (Ethylene Butylacrylate Copolymer) developed with its own technology, to expand its market share in the global ultra-high voltage cable XLPE market, which grows at an average annual rate of over 7%. The company is also reviewing strategies to strengthen market dominance, including expanding production capacity.

Won Jae-sik, head of Hanwha Solutions’ PO Business Division, said, "Cable insulation materials are an important future growth engine for the chemical business. We will pioneer the global market by developing high value-added materials based on technology, including various ultra-high voltage cable products."