Korean and international data center experts shared the view that power and energy infrastructure are the core success factors in the data center industry. Seminar Hub hosted “2025 Data Center Establishment Strategy Seminar” at FKI Tower in Yeouido on June 13.
Participants had in-depth discussions on how to secure power design, cooling technology and regional distributed generation to cope with the AI and cloud eras.
The experts agreed that data centers need to be considered from the perspective of power, departing from the conventional view of seeing IT-oriented infrastructure.
It points to a need for a fundamental perception shift of the whole of the industry toward policy, design and investment.
With the arrival of the AI era, the Korean data center industry has been maintaining explosive growth.
The number of data centers in Korea, which stood at 72 in 2024, is predicted to jump to more than 100 by 2029.
Subsequently, power demand is forecast to redouble from 1.08GW to 2.37GW during the same period.
The power that data centers in downtown Seoul will consume is equivalent to the power supply of two nuclear power units.
Secretary General Song Joon-hwa of the Korea Data Center Efficiency Association said, “The power density of AI data centers has surged more dramatically than in the past, and the conventional high-performance computing center stands at between 20 and 40kW per rack. Each AI data center needs to consume between 40 to 100kW. This is the reason why the innovation of the whole of equipment, such as cooling and conditioning is inevitable.”
Song predicted that the emergence of technologies, such as self-driving cars requiring ultra-reliable low latency services will expand large-sized hyperscale centers and small-sized edge data centers.
Only site placement strategies focusing on the Seoul metropolitan area are stuck with limitations related to power grid overload and location saturation.
Subsequently, the construction of dispersed regional data centers and a policy paradigm shift are required urgently, and social resistance, such as the lack of regional acceptance, concerns about electromagnetic waves and “heat island effect” are standing in the way.
Harmony with the power grid has emerged as an essential task. Jang Dong-hyun, deputy general manager of KPX, picked as an alternative option “dispersed energy special zones.”
“If special zones are designated, independent power producers could strike a power contract with consumers on a voluntary basis and they can sell to the outside up top 30 percent of their power production, and if data centers secure load flexibility of demand resources, they could receive compensation via a two-way bidding structure,” he said.
Analyses showed that a dispersed power special zone system effectively curtails the construction cost return period and reduces operational costs.
A rise in high-heat AI servers necessitates innovation of cooling infrastructure. The conventional air cooling system is evaluated to have hit a snag.
Ji Hyung-cheol, director of AR System, said, “The conventional air cooling system no longer deals well with the surging power consumption of graphic processing units and the liquid immersion cooling technology using a liquid whose thermal conductivity is 20 times higher than the air will be a mainstream method in the future.”
He said the technology has been verified, with the power usage effectiveness (PUE) standing at less than 1.03, and it could bring about dramatic shift in terms of energy efficiency.
Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, are scrambling to come up with power infrastructure and policy incentives, and worry has been raised that Korea might weaken its global competitiveness due to power shortages in the Seoul metropolitan area and a lack of strategies designed to attract tenant companies.
Deus President Lyou Ki-hoon said, “AI data centers involve integrated industry strategies, such as technology, site placement, policy and tenant company network.”
He suggested core response strategies, such the development of clusters with a focus on promising sites, the design of standardized data centers, eco-friendly ESG infrastructure, global tenant attraction marketing and localization & government R&D connectivity.
KPX Teams Up with Four Other Public Entities to Use ‘Data Safety Zone’
Five public entities in the energy sector have joined forces to promote data-based energy service innovation and industrial development.
Korea Power Exchange struck an MOU on the joint use of data safety zones and cooperation in the energy sector among energy institutions along with Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea National Oil Corp., Korea District Heating Corp., and Korea Electrical Safety Corp. at KEPCO Art Center in Seoul on May 30.
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