Gangwon Province Governor Woo Sang-ho said Wednesday that authorities are actively working to resolve a power supply bottleneck threatening SK Group's planned AI data center investment in Gangneung. A phased investment approach scaled to available electricity capacity is also under consideration, he added.
"People say it will take six to seven, or even seven to eight years to build the large-scale power supply facility — the substation — needed for the AI data center," Woo said in an interview. "We are urging Korea Electric Power Corporation to come up with special measures."
During his gubernatorial campaign, Woo pledged to bring a 1-gigawatt AI data center to the Gangneung area, backed by 70 trillion won ($47.4 billion) in investment from a major conglomerate over 10 years. Just before taking office, he confirmed that the conglomerate was SK Group, when President Lee Jae-myung and business leaders jointly announced the mega-project.
Operating a 1-GW data center would require an enormous amount of electricity — equivalent to what about 1.4 million households consume in a year. Experts, including officials at Korea Electric Power Corporation, say a 345-kilovolt substation costing 30 billion won in construction costs alone would need to be built, and completing it would take six to eight years.
Woo said Gangwon Province has long exported vast amounts of surplus electricity to other regions for the good of the country, and that it is now simply asking to redirect some of that power for its own industrial development. "This would benefit the nation's AI industry, and Korea Electric Power Corporation should step up and take proactive action," he said.
"It makes no sense to block tens of trillions of won in investment just because there is no substation," Woo said. "When Gangwon says it wants to use the power it produces, Korea Electric Power Corporation drags its feet — and that is why residents of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province feel cheated."
Woo acknowledged that the province should have prepared its power infrastructure earlier in anticipation of industrial growth. "In a situation like this, extraordinary measures are called for. I expect Korea Electric Power Corporation to take a broader view and shift its thinking," he said. "We are also discussing the idea of scaling down the data center capacity and bringing in investment in stages as conditions allow. We have confirmed that industry is willing to come in sized to whatever electricity capacity is available. We are having conversations through various channels."
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