South Korean transformer manufacturer to expand operation in South Memphis

South Korean power transformer manufacturer Hyosung HICO’s U.S. manufacturing headquarters in Memphis, Tenn. will add 123 new employees, the company announced May 14, 2025. (Photo: Hyosung HICO)

A South Korean power transformer manufacturer announced Wednesday it will expand operations at its U.S. headquarters in Memphis.

Hyosung HICO will invest $51 million into its 360,000-square-foot facility located on a 200-acre plot near the Mississippi River in South Memphis.

The expansion is expected to add 123 new jobs in Shelby County, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The facility currently employs about 400 people.

Hyosung HICO is a subsidiary of Hyosung Heavy Industries, which was founded in South Korea in 1962 and delivered its first power transformer to North America in 1998, according to the company’s website. Hyosung Heavy Industries manufactures electrical power equipment including transformers, switchgears, energy storage systems and SMART Grid solutions.

Hyosung HICO purchased the Memphis manufacturing plant in 2019 from Mitsubishi Electric. 

The plant became the South Korean company’s first in the U.S. when it opened in 2020 to be closer to North American electric utility customers, the website states. 

The Memphis and Shelby County Economic Development and Growth Engine (EDGE) approved $10 million in tax breaks for the deal in 2019. State records show a $5 million grant for the same year.

The facility has manufactured transformers for some of Nashville-based solar power company Silicon Ranch’s Tennessee solar farms.

“We are committed to executing this expansion with the firm belief that only companies that succeed in the U.S. market can secure true competitiveness,” Hyosung Heavy Industries CEO Taehee Woo said in a news release. “Today’s expansion of our Memphis transformer facility marks a major milestone in our U.S. growth strategy and underscores our vision to become the #1 supplier of large power transformers in the country by 2027, and the leading supplier of solutions by the end of this decade.”