North America High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Systems Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends and Forecast (2026 - 2031)

North America High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Systems Market Trends and Insights

Submarine HVDC Transmission Systems to be the fastest-growing segment

• Submarine electricity transmission is gaining importance because of the increasing focus on power trading between countries. The HVDC submarine power transmission system is crucial for developing future power transmission networks.
• It is the only solution for transferring high power across long subsea distances. For these reasons, HVDC lines are preferred for interconnecting offshore wind plants worldwide. In the HVDC transmission system, the submarine power cables can be less costly, especially on a long link where the cable's capacitance requires too much additional charging current. Due to this, submarine HVDC systems are especially preferred for transmitting power from utility-scale offshore wind projects.
• The Offshore wind sector is beginning to take off in North America, and the segment is expected to grow massively during the forecast period. Several large-scale wind farms are under development in the region, which is expected to significantly boost the demand for submarine HVDC services during the forecast period.
• According to the United States Department of Energy, By May 2022, the U.S. offshore wind energy project development and operational pipeline grew to a potential generating capacity of 40,083 megawatts (MW). The 40,083 MW in the U.S. offshore wind energy pipeline has witnessed a 13.5% growth since 2021.
• The U.S. offshore wind energy market continues to be driven by state-level offshore wind energy procurement activities and policies. Collectively, offshore wind energy policies in eight states call for deploying at least 39,322 MW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2040.
• Hence, the increasing offshore activities are expected to drive the submarine HVDC transmission systems market during the forecast period.

The United States to Dominate the Market

• The market for HVDC in the United States is likely to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period. The transmission and distribution (T&D) loss in the United States was estimated to be around 5% (averaged over the period 2017-2021, lower than global T&D loss, and is among the lowest in the world.
• In 2021, offshore oil and natural gas production in the Federal Gulf of Mexico accounted for about 15% of total U.S. crude oil production and about 2% of total U.S. dry natural gas production.
• In order to maintain offshore production, the exploration and development activity is moving toward deeper waters, where oil and gas reserves have not been exploited. As deep-sea oil exploration and production requires the construction of temporary or permanent offshore installations, which need massive electricity supply to operate, which is usually done through HVDC connections for long distance transmission, typical in the case of deep-sea exploration. This trend is expected to drive the demand for HVDC transmission services in the country to power offshore installations.
• Additionally, the growth of the offshore wind sector is another factor driving the market during the forecast period. The United States government has been promoting the deployment of the HVDC lines to transfer large amounts of power over long distances. They are now being proposed to move electricity generated from wind in high-quality wind resource regions to other parts of the country.
• As of May 31, 2022, 24 power purchase agreements for offshore wind energy procurement were signed in the United States, adding up to 17,597 MW in offshore wind energy contracts.
• Therefore, the rising offshore oil and gas development and an increasing number of offshore wind farms in the country is expected to require additional HVDC transmission lines to facilitate large GW-scale electricity transmission lines to transmit power from massive offshore wind farms, which is expected to drive the demand for HVDC transmission systems in the country.
• Therefore, with the development of renewable, and especially the offshore wind in the United States, the market is likely to witness growth over the forecast period.

Regulatory Landscape

In the United States, interstate electric transmission siting and permitting is shaped by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under Section 216 of the Federal Power Act, as amended by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). In May 2024, FERC issued Order No. 1977 to finalize regulations governing applications for permits to site interstate electric transmission facilities, which creates a more structured federal pathway for multi-state HVDC lines dealing with cross-jurisdiction constraints.

Federal planning and grid access policy is also widening beyond generation interconnection to accommodate large-load growth. In January 2026, FERC opened Docket No. RM26-4 to seek comments tied to DOE principles for interconnecting large loads to the interstate grid, and in July 2026 DOE Office of Electricity released the draft 2026 National Transmission Needs Study for a 60-day public comment window ending September 7, 2026, highlighting congestion and reliability needs that raise the value of high-capacity transmission such as HVDC. In Canada, the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) regulates international power lines, while provincial and territorial authorities oversee most domestic transmission and distribution, so cross-border HVDC projects typically require approvals across both federal and subnational levels.

Value Chain Analysis

The North America HVDC transmission systems value chain runs from project origination and permitting (developers, utilities, ISOs) to front-end engineering and system design (OEMs and engineering firms). It then extends to long-lead manufacturing for converter stations, transformers, valves and controls, and cable systems, followed by EPC and civil works for station builds and line or cable installation. The chain ends with commissioning and lifecycle services such as grid compliance, spares, monitoring, and maintenance.

Execution is increasingly shaped by long-lead equipment and specialized manufacturing constraints. Evidence in the market points to dependence on imported HVDC converter transformers into the United States and tight availability for subsea and underground HVDC cable capacity, supported by the limited availability of specialized production assets such as very tall vertical continuous vulcanization towers. Recent initiatives also show upstream localization and risk mitigation efforts, including LS Cable starting construction of an HVDC subsea cable manufacturing facility in Chesapeake, Virginia (April 2025), and Mitsubishi Electric and GE Vernova signing an MOU to secure supply of IGBT power semiconductors for VSC HVDC systems (June 2025), both of which affect converter and cable delivery schedules for North American projects.

Market Opportunities and Future Outlook

Large interregional and cross-border projects moving from approval into operation are creating room for additional HVDC corridors that connect remote resources to dense load centers and relieve constrained interfaces. A clear reference point is the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE), a 1,250 MW HVDC link delivering hydropower from Quebec to New York City, which reached commercial operation on May 13, 2026 and received FERC approval of market rules on April 14, 2026 to enable integration with the New York ISO. Taken together, the operational milestone and the market-integration precedent on merchant transmission rules provide a working template for other large HVDC developments that need both physical delivery and schedules and congestion frameworks that fit market operations.

Federal financing and grid modernization programs are also opening near-term entry points for HVDC terminals, upgrades, and new builds that expand capacity on existing rights-of-way and improve interties. Examples include the U.S. DOE Loan Programs Office conditional commitment of up to USD 4.9 billion (November 2024) to support Grain Belt Express Phase 1, a 2,500 MW HVDC project between Kansas and Missouri, and a USD 50 million DOE grant awarded to Minnesota Power (ALLETE) for its HVDC Terminal Expansion Capability Project to modernize its 465-mile line between North Dakota and Minnesota. At the same time, developer-OEM engineering programs are advancing interconnection concepts that bridge asynchronous systems, including Hitachi Energy and Grid United progressing the 3 GW North Plains Connector (±525 kV) through an engineering services agreement (October 2025), which expands the pipeline for multi-GW HVDC converter stations and high-voltage cable or overhead line packages across the region.