LSIS Co.’s plant for the production of high voltage direct current transmission systems was completed on Monday.

Located within Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone, the facility is the country’s first plant for producing high-voltage direct current transmission equipment.

The 110 billion won plant ($97 million) is equipped with facilities for assembling and testing all related equipment, and a production line for thyristor valves, which is an essential component of the transmission system, the company said. The company estimates the global market for related equipment to grow to be about $14 billion over the next 20 years, and hopes to raise its related sales to 1.75 trillion won by 2019.

According to the company, a high voltage direct current transmission system loses less electricity in the transmission process and allows more electricity to be transmitted over longer distances.

According to the company, a high voltage direct current transmission system is also cheaper to build when the transmission distance is more than 450 kilometers overland or 40 kilometers underwater compared to conventional systems.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)