HD Hyundai Electric said it has completed development of a 420-kilovolt SF₆-free high-voltage circuit breaker, the first independently developed in South Korea and only the third globally, as it steps up efforts to win European grid orders. The breaker replaces sulfur hexafluoride with a C4 mixed gas that cuts global warming potential by about 98% and required redesigned insulation and interruption structures. The company said the new model completes its eco-friendly circuit breaker lineup across major voltage classes after earlier 170kV, 145kV and 72.5kV versions. It has passed pre-qualification with European transmission network operators and is pursuing long-term supply contracts with major UK power companies, targeting a first order by the end of this year or early next year as the European market grows toward 3 trillion won, or about $2.1 billion, by 2030 under tighter EU F-Gas rules and grid investment. Separately, HD Hyundai Electric said it became the first South Korean company to produce its 1,000th ultra-high-voltage transformer in the United States, a 500kV, 675 MVA unit for Georgia Transmission to support Walton County, Florida, lifting cumulative production capacity to 200 GVA, equivalent to the demand of 130 million U.S. households.