A Current Look at HVDC Activities in the United States includes excerpts from the Newton-Evans publication entitled Overview of the 2026-2028 Transmission and Distribution Equipment Market: High Voltage Series, to be released in early May, 2026. HVDC is one of 15 topical HV equipment market overviews included in the series.

A High Voltage, Direct Current (HVDC) electric power transmission system uses direct current for the bulk transmission of electrical power, in contrast with the more common alternating current systems. For long-distance transmission, HVDC systems may be less expensive and suffer lower electrical losses. For underwater power cables, HVDC avoids the heavy currents required to charge and discharge the cable capacitance each cycle. Two main cost components are the converter stations and the cable.

When assessing the current U.S. market and near-term outlook for HVDC projects and for annual revenue flows to traditional suppliers of electrical equipment used in the construction of HVDC converter stations, Newton-Evans estimates such project flows currently running at nearly one-half billion dollars per year.  Leading suppliers of HVDC equipment for converter stations (inclusive of any involvement in converter station construction and maintenance)  are Hitachi Energy and Siemens Energy.  Other market participants with some millions in revenue flows for multi-year projects and for maintenance revenues for operational sites include GE Vernova, MEPPI, Toshiba and others.

Recently,The Brattle Group collaborated with DNV to prepare an excellent update to the original 2023 report entitled “The Operational and Market Benefits of HVDC to System Operators.” This updated 2025 guide is entitled “Market and Operational Benefits of HVDC Systems” The guide is available to download courtesy of the report sponsors:  https://cleanenergygrid.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Pfeifenberger_HVDC-Transmission_WCEA-2-05-25.pdf.

Average Project Cost Ranges

Typically, equipment manufacturers do not state specific cost information of a particular project since this is a commercial matter between the manufacturer and the client, which, in the case of HVDC projects is usually a non-utility corporation/LLC that is set up specifically for managing the HVDC project.

Costs vary widely depending on the specifics of the project such as power rating, circuit length, overhead vs. underground/underwater route, land costs, and AC network improvements required at either terminal. A detailed evaluation of DC vs. AC cost may be required where there is no clear technical advantage to DC transmission alone and only economics drives the selection.  Typically, the longer the transmission route, the more cost-effective can be HVDC.

There are a handful of HVDC U.S.-based projects either about to get underway or planned for construction during this outlook period (2026-2028). Several more remain on the drawing board awaiting the required routing approvals and funding from multiple parties.  Each project we have found is estimated to cost well over one billion dollars. Only a portion of that total project cost will be awarded to one of more of the suppliers for HVDC converter stations. However, each award to the above suppliers will be worth multiple millions of dollars when ongoing maintenance and periodic upgrade revenues are included.

Since the 2021-2023 edition of our HV Equipment Market Overview series of reports, some projects have been cancelled or indefinitely postponed.  These include Plains and Eastern Clean Energy Link; Rock Island Clean Line and Juan de Fuca Cable HVDC.  Since our last report in 2024, the Clean Path New York project has also been shelved.  The current (April 2026) U.S. HVDC projects underway, about to begin, or still in the pipeline of possibilities, include a total of nine named projects that Newton-Evans Research has uncovered.  Together, these nine projects are valued at around $45-50 billion of investment.   It appears to Newton-Evans that either Hitachi Energy or Siemens Energy are either the selected – or highly likely candidates for providing converter station equipment for each of these listed projects.