Hyundai will build KSA’s Neom transmission line to Tabuk and Yanbu: Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. — a subsidiary of Hyundai Motors Group — has won a USD 145 mn contract to build a 525 KV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line connecting Saudi Arabia’s net zero city Neom to cities across the country, The Korea Economic Daily reports. Hyundai will be responsible for the engineering to procurement and construction of the HVDC line under the turnkey agreement.

The details: Hyundai will build a 207 km HVDC line and approximately 450 transmission towers to connect the carbon-neutral, USD 500 bn Neom city to the cities of Tabuk and Yanbu, the news outlet notes. The Korean construction company expects the project to be completed by July 2027.

Made for renewables: The HVDC line will incur fewer power losses than the AC line, making it more stable and able to support the transmission of renewable energies like solar and wind power, the news outlet notes.

HVDC is white hot: HVDC cables are in high demand as countries hasten their transition to renewable energy, but a lack of technical know-how associated with cable production is concentrating HVDC manufacturing to a few companies, which is driving up prices and threatening global supplies, the Financial Times reports.

Neom has been making progress lately: In June, the Saudi Electricity Company and Neom’s water management and utility company Enowa signed an agreement with Zurich-based tech company Hitachi Energy to build a 3 GW, 650 km high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system connecting Neom’s floating industrial complex Oxagon to the country’s port city of Yanbu. Earlier in May, Neom awarded a USD 2 bn contract for a rail project linking its floating industrial complex Oxagon to renewable energy-powered The Line city.

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