South Korean nuclear companies to form consortium for joint investment

SK Group's Serin Building in Seoul. [SK Group]
SK Group's Serin Building in Seoul. [SK Group]

SK Group is considering a strategic, trillion-won-scale equity investment in US nuclear energy company Westinghouse Electric, industry sources said Thursday. The move is part of SK's broader push to position itself as a company capable of delivering full-package AI solutions.

SK is reviewing the investment in consortium with Samsung C&T, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility, according to industry sources. SK Group's share of the investment is estimated to be in the trillion-won range.

South Korea and the United States recently agreed to channel up to $120 billion of a $200 billion Korea-US investment fund into building eight large nuclear power plants in the United States, with a South Korean private consortium set to acquire a 5 to 10 percent stake in Westinghouse. The deal also includes a provision allowing the consortium to purchase shares at a 10 percent discount to the offering price if Westinghouse proceeds with a stock market listing.

Industry observers value Westinghouse at up to $30 billion at the time of a potential listing. Foreign media reports indicate Westinghouse is pursuing a listing that would value the company at more than $50 billion.

If the Westinghouse investment goes through, SK Group's nuclear business is expected to expand from small modular reactors into large-scale nuclear power plants.

SK and SK Innovation jointly invested $250 million in TerraPower, a US nuclear energy company chaired by Bill Gates, in 2022, becoming its second-largest shareholder. In August, SK Innovation and TerraPower signed an agreement to expand the global rollout of Natrium — a next-generation non-light-water SMR — and to pursue a Korea-specific business model.

AI lies at the heart of SK Group's push into nuclear energy. Data centers and other large-scale infrastructure required by the AI industry demand enormous amounts of electricity. Unlike renewable energy, nuclear power is not subject to weather variability and can deliver stable, consistent output, making it an increasingly prominent energy source for AI infrastructure.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com