South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has decided to build a data center complex in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, in cooperation with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Jeonnam Development Corporation. The complex will mainly use photovoltaic power generation.

Several regional organizations and companies, including Samsung C&T, LG CNS, NH Investment & Securities, Bosung Industrial, TGK, Korea DRD, and Deus Systems, participated in the program.

The complex will house 25 data centers, each with a capacity of 40 MW. The entire construction process will be carried out in phases, with at least five data centers expected to be built by 2027.

The project requires a total investment of 10 trillion won ($7.53 billion). In addition, MOTIE did not disclose specific details of the solar side of the project, or whether the project will receive public support.

There are other gigawatt solar projects currently underway in South Korea. In December last year, a consortium led by Hanwha Asset Management announced that it would build a 1.5GW solar energy project on the roof of the Daegu Industrial Complex and idle land with a total investment of 3 trillion won. South Korea also announced the construction of a 2.1GW floating solar project and a 3GW ground-based photovoltaic array project in the Saemangeum area. Currently, the largest solar power plant in the country is the 150 MW Solar park in Sinam County, South Jeolla Province, which is developed by Southeast Electric Power. Jeolla Province is also home to the largest number of renewable energy projects under development in South Korea. Editor/Xu Shengpeng