HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is committing more than 1 trillion won to new power-generation engine and small modular reactor manufacturing capacity, tying a traditional heavy-industry business to the rapid buildout of power infrastructure for artificial intelligence. The company disclosed a combined investment of 1.0722 trillion won, with most of the money going to a new land-based engine production base in Ulsan and the remainder to a dedicated SMR component plant.
The larger project is an 833.6 billion won HiMSEN engine facility in Onsan, Ulju County. It is planned as a 3-gigawatt production base covering assembly, testing, crankshaft machining and engine-block casting. The company expects the new site to begin full operation in May 2028, lifting total HiMSEN capacity and allowing production to be divided more efficiently between marine and land-based engines.
Two production bets tied to future power demand
The second investment is 238.6 billion won for a plant inside the Ulsan shipyard dedicated to main components for small modular reactors. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2029. HD Hyundai Heavy has already been named a preferred bidder to supply major components for TerraPower commercial SMRs, giving the new factory a direct link to a developing export market rather than making it a purely speculative expansion.
The timing reflects a broader shift in Korean heavy industry. Electricity demand from AI data centers is creating new demand for gas-engine generation and nuclear technologies, while Korean manufacturers are looking for growth beyond their established shipbuilding and industrial-equipment businesses. For Ulsan, the projects also reinforce the city as a manufacturing base for new energy infrastructure, with the investment spread across both near-term engine demand and longer-horizon nuclear components.