Hitachi Energy, along with the federal and Ontario governments, have announced a $479-million plan to build a new transformer insulation factory as electricity demand is expected to skyrocket. The 21,000-square-metre facility in London, Ont., is expected to be completed by the end of 2028. It would be the first in Canada to produce pressboard — a material made from paper pulp that’s key to keeping transformers cool — and the first one Hitachi would establish in the Americas. The facility is expected to create 100 permanent skilled jobs. Hitachi is shouldering the bulk of the investment, with the federal and Ontario governments collectively contributing $50 million. Of that, $20 million is through the federal strategic response fund, $10 million is from Natural Resources Canada and up to $20 million is through the Invest Ontario Fund. The transition to renewable electricity, industrial developments and a boom in artificial intelligence data centres are driving up demand for transformers and their components, said Bruno Melles, chief executive of Hitachi’s transformers business unit based in Zurich. “Today we are in a situation where the industry for transformer manufacturing is going at a very high speed, but not all the industrial parts are going at the same speed,” Melles said in an interview ahead of the announcement. “This is why we want to give a strong message to the market and say, ‘We want to be an integral part of the supply chain resilience and we are going to invest in order to ensure that the market is not going to have any shortage.’” In May, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada’s new electricity strategy, which aims to double the country’s electricity grid by 2050. Building new infrastructure has been a key focus for Carney’s government, and several power and transmission projects have been referred to the major projects office for a streamlined review. “Electricity demand in Canada is growing at an unprecedented pace, something we’ve never seen before,” Carla Vincente, managing director of Hitachi Energy’s Canadian division, said in an interview. “By ensuring that we have this factory operational by the end of 2028, we will be able to respond to the higher needs and demand for the transformers that are an essential part of anything that we want to do to be able to electrify.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
