Hitachi Energy Transformer Insulation Plant, London, Ontario

Transformer lead times are the grid’s worst bottleneck, and Hitachi Energy has decided part of the problem is paper. On Oct. 16, 2026, the company said it’ll build a 21,000-square-meter (about 226,000 square feet) plant in London, Ontario, to make the electrical insulation pressboard and laminates that go inside power transformers. The investment is C$479 million, roughly US$330 million, and completion is expected in 2028.

The plant will hold Canada’s first pressboard manufacturing line and Hitachi Energy’s first anywhere in the Americas. Pressboard is the dense cellulose board wrapped and stacked around transformer windings, and there aren’t many places that make it.

Project Scope

The site is at Huron Street and Veterans Memorial Parkway on London’s east side. Hitachi Energy describes the C$479 million as an investment in its North American insulation and components business, with the London factory as its centerpiece. The company expects more than 100 permanent skilled jobs.

Public money covers roughly a tenth of the cost. Ottawa is putting in C$20 million through the Strategic Response Fund, Ontario up to C$20 million through the Invest Ontario Fund, and Natural Resources Canada another C$10 million to Hitachi Energy Canada Inc.

London isn’t a random pick. Hitachi Energy recently bought Canduct, a London-based maker of transformer insulation kits and components, so the new plant sits next to an operation that already converts this material into parts. The company hasn’t named a designer, engineer or builder, and it hasn’t given a construction start date.

Why It Matters

Utilities have spent three years waiting two to four years for large power transformers, and most of the public debate has focused on core steel and assembly capacity. Insulation gets less attention, but a transformer factory can’t ship without it. Hitachi Energy’s own product manager called it one of the most critical bottlenecks in the business, which is a vendor talking up its investment but also a fair read of the supply chain.

The plant is part of a broader push. Hitachi Energy says it’s spending more than US$2 billion on its North American supply chain through 2027, including a C$270 million expansion at Varennes, Quebec, to nearly triple large power transformer output, and a large power transformer plant in South Boston, Virginia. Making the pressboard in-region closes a loop those assembly plants depend on.

For Ontario contractors, it’s a mid-size industrial job with a process line that’ll need specialized installers. Watch for the design-build or EPC award; that’s when the U.S. and Canadian industrial builders that chase Hitachi work will show their hand.

Project Team & Details