Hitachi Energy signed a definitive agreement on 17 June 2026 to acquire Canduct Group, an Ontario based maker of transformer insulation kits and components. Nobody outside the transformer trade made much noise about it.
That’s the odd part. There is no headline price tag attached to this deal, and Hitachi has not disclosed what it paid.
Buried inside that quiet release, though, sits a clue about why North America’s grid keeps stalling even with billions of dollars chasing a fix.
Canduct has already been supplying transformer insulation solutions to Hitachi Energy for more than two decades. So this isn’t Hitachi wandering into unfamiliar territory.
It’s Hitachi buying out a supplier it has leaned on for twenty years. That detail says more about nerves than ambition.
The Canduct Group Acquisition Targets a Quiet Choke Point
Power transformers rarely get held up by one missing part. They get held up by dozens of small ones.
Insulation kits, pressboard, and barrier materials packed inside a transformer tank don’t make headlines. A missing kit, though, can park a finished, multi-million dollar transformer on a factory floor for months.
Insulation kits sit inside every power transformer tank, and a shortage of these smaller parts can hold up a finished unit for months. [Hitachi Energy]
That’s the choke point Hitachi just bought its way around.
Average lead times for large power transformers were running at 128 weeks in mid-2025, nearly two and a half years from order to delivery. Generator step-up units, the big ones feeding new gas and renewable plants onto the grid, ran even longer at 144 weeks.
Prices haven’t been kind either. Power transformer prices have climbed 77 percent since 2019, while distribution units in some classes cost up to 95 percent more than they did six years back.
Steel and copper get most of the blame. Electrical steel prices have roughly doubled since 2020, and copper has climbed more than 50 percent over the same stretch.
Four Decades Making Insulation Kits in Ontario
Canduct was founded in 1982 and now employs more than 300 people, working out of a plant south of London, Ontario.
Canduct Group at a glance:
- Founded: 1982
- Headquarters: South London, Ontario, Canada
- Workforce: 300+ employees
- Customers: Transformer OEMs and repair companies across the US and Canada
- Deal close: Expected start of third calendar quarter, 2026
None of that sounds glamorous. It isn’t meant to.
Canduct’s entire business is making parts that nobody mentions until the day they run out.
Once the deal closes, those 300 workers and Canduct’s Ontario plant fold into Hitachi Energy’s transformer business unit. Bruno Melles, who heads that unit, framed the purchase as a way to firm up regional supply chains for insulation kits and components while keeping pace with growing electrification demand.
Canduct Group operates from south London, Ontario, serving transformer makers and repair companies across the US and Canada. [Hitachi Energy]
Hitachi Energy Keeps Betting on North American Power Grid Solutions
This isn’t Hitachi’s first investment in North American energy infrastructure. The company has already pledged more than US$1.5 billion since 2024 to lift global transformer output, with a chunk of that going into a Quebec factory upgrade worth over US$100 million.
Siemens Energy and GE Vernova are spending too. HD Hyundai Electric is expanding its Alabama plant by 30 percent to chase the same demand.
Close to US$2 billion in new North American transformer capacity has been announced across the industry over the past two years. None of it closes the gap immediately.
PwC analysts cited in recent industry coverage put wait times for some high capacity units at up to four years.
Demand keeps climbing regardless. AI data centres racing for power are pulling on the same limited pool of transformers as ageing grid replacements and new EV charging networks.
A Bolt-On Deal That Says More Than Its Price Tag
Hitachi didn’t disclose financial terms, and that detail matters as much as any figure it could have shared. A headline grabbing mega deal usually comes with a number attached. A supply chain insurance policy doesn’t need one.
Investors tracking energy infrastructure announcements have spent two years watching giant transformer factories and billion dollar capacity pledges roll out, much like Google’s US$9 billion data centre build-out in Virginia.
Tech firms have gone further still, building private power plants just to skip the public grid queue rather than wait for new transmission capacity. The Canduct Group acquisition shows the same scramble playing out one rung down the ladder, where insulation kits and bushings matter almost as much as the transformers themselves.
Australia is wrestling with a version of the same problem on a different scale. APA Group’s Brigalow peaking power plant in Queensland depends on the same global pool of heavy electrical equipment that North American utilities are now racing to secure.
When one region locks up a supplier, the queue everywhere else gets a touch longer.
Watch for the deal to close near the start of July. After that, the real test won’t be the signing.
It will be whether Canduct’s production lines can scale fast enough to chip away at queues that, in some cases, already stretch past four years.
Also Read: Chilwa Minerals’ Mpyupyu Resource Doubles to 109.6Mt
FAQs
Q: What does Canduct Group make?
A: Insulation kits and components fitted inside power and distribution transformers.
Q: Why is Hitachi Energy buying Canduct Group?
A: To lock in North American supply of transformer insulation parts and ease delivery delays.
Q: When will the Hitachi Energy Canduct Group deal close?
A: Hitachi expects the deal to close at the start of the third calendar quarter of 2026.
Q: Where is Canduct Group based?
A: South of London, Ontario, Canada.
Q: How long are power transformer lead times right now?
A: Large units average well over two years, with some high capacity orders stretching past four.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decisions. Colitco accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this content.
Tags: Canduct Group, Hitachi Energy, Power Last modified: June 20, 2026
