Hitachi Energy to invest $22.5M in SWVA expansion, creating 120 jobs

Hitachi Energy, a provider of electrical grid infrastructure, plans to invest $22.5 million to upgrade its current facility in Bland County and to add a warehouse in Atkins, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.

The project is expected to create 120 jobs.

“The new facility in Atkins, alongside the upgrades at our existing site in Bland, represents a major milestone in our commitment to building resilient energy infrastructure in the U.S.,” Steve McKinney, senior vice president and head of transformers for North America, Hitachi Energy, stated in a news release. “Virginia has been an essential part of our manufacturing story for over 50 years, and this expansion reflects our confidence in the region’s skilled workforce and strong support for innovation.”

The investments will allow Hitachi Energy to boost production capacity and support modernization efforts, according to the company.

The Hitachi Energy facility in Bland is, according to the news release, the United States’ leading source of dry-type transformers, which are used to adjust and stabilize the voltage of electricity flowing through power grids. Opened in Bland in 1972, the facility employs about 450 people.

About $12.5 million will be invested in the Bland plant, a project expected to create 80 jobs, according to Hitachi Energy. Upgrades made at the facility will increase capacity for production and advanced assembly capabilities.

In 2021, Hitachi Energy completed a $6.2 million expansion at the Bland County facility that provided additional production capacity and created 40 jobs.

The newly purchased 75,000-square-foot facility in Smyth County will handle core cutting and warehousing work. Approximately $10 million of Hitachi Energy’s investment will go to support it, according to a Hitachi Energy news release.

Located about 40 miles from Bland, the site will strengthen manufacturing capabilities and improve regional distribution. It’s expected to be operational by August.

“Hitachi Energy’s investment in the new Atkins facility and the transformative modernization of the Bland plant is a powerful endorsement of Virginia’s manufacturing capabilities,” Youngkin said in a news release. “This world-class company’s investment in Southwest Virginia is not only expanding domestic transformer production, but also creating high-quality, skilled jobs and driving innovation in energy infrastructure.”

Mount Rogers Regional Partnership and officials from Bland and Smyth counties worked with Hitachi Energy to secure the project.

Headquartered in Switzerland, Hitachi Energy serves customers in the utility, industry, transportation, data centers and infrastructure sectors. In 2024, the company announced plans to invest more than $6 billion globally through 2027 to strengthen the resilience and capacity of the world’s electrical grids. The company employs around 45,000 people in 60 countries and generates business volumes of around $13 billion.