In a strategic move to strengthen its U.S. manufacturing footprint, Hitachi Energy has announced a $22.5 million investment aimed at expanding and modernizing its dry-type transformer operations in Southwest Virginia. This initiative includes the development of a brand-new production site and significant upgrades to its current facility, underscoring the company’s commitment to supporting long-term grid infrastructure needs across the country.

The company will invest approximately $10 million to establish a new 75,000-square-foot facility in Atkins, Virginia. This site, located just 40 miles from the existing Bland facility and well-connected by major highways, will help optimize regional distribution and logistics. Once operational in August 2025, the new plant is expected to generate around 40 skilled jobs in Smyth County, contributing to local economic growth.

Simultaneously, Hitachi Energy is channeling $12.5 million into modernizing its Bland facility to boost production capacity and integrate advanced assembly lines. The upgrades are projected to create an additional 80 jobs and significantly enhance the site’s ability to meet escalating demand for dry-type transformers across renewable energy projects, data centers, and electric mobility infrastructure.

This expansion is part of Hitachi Energy’s broader global investment plan of over $6 billion through 2027 to reinforce grid reliability and energy transition goals worldwide. In partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the expansion reflects public-private collaboration to advance U.S. energy resilience.

Currently, Hitachi Energy commands a dominant 60% share in both the cast resin and vacuum pressure impregnated (VPI) dry-type transformer segments in the United States. Its competitive edge is reinforced by proprietary TVP technology, a robust substitute for traditional RC snubber circuits, and deep market penetration in industries such as data centers. With the addition of the Atkins site, the company will now operate two dry-type specific manufacturing facilities in the U.S., both in Virginia.

The U.S. demand for dry-type transformers is projected to grow from approximately 79,000 units in 2024 to 98,000 units by 2030. Despite this domestic expansion, the share of imported transformers is expected to increase from 27% in 2024 to 29% by 2030, signaling a mismatch between demand growth and local manufacturing scale-up. Over this period, domestic production capacity is anticipated to increase by only about 7%, leaving room for further capacity build-outs.

Hitachi Energy is not alone in pursuing U.S.-based expansion. Other key players making recent moves include:

* TMC Transformers USA Inc., which inaugurated a facility in Georgia in 2023 and has committed another $15.3 million to a second plant expected to go live by 2026.

* Electro-Mechanical Corporation, which plans to complete a 200,000-square-foot expansion in Virginia by the end of 2025, with half of the investment focused on dry-type transformer output under the Federal Pacific brand.

* Virginia Transformers, which manufactures medium-voltage dry-type units in Mexico primarily for the U.S. market is also expanding to increase is production capacity.

While Hitachi Energy’s latest investment represents a significant step toward boosting domestic transformer production, it alone will not be enough to offset the growing reliance on imports. With demand expected to rise by nearly 24% by 2030 and import share also ticking upward, the current pace of domestic capacity expansion may fall short.

To effectively curb import dependency and enhance supply chain resilience, further investments from existing players and new entrants will be necessary, particularly in cast resin technologies, which are gaining traction in critical applications like renewables and data centers.