South Korea’s biggest chipmakers are developing gigawatt-scale LNG cogeneration plants as AI, new fabs and decarbonisation push electricity demand beyond what the national grid can reliably provide.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are moving to secure their own power supplies as the scale of their semiconductor investments raises the stakes for reliable electricity. According to Newsis, the shift reflects a wider period in which major South Korean groups are treating energy infrastructure as a strategic necessity, rather than relying entirely on the national grid, as artificial intelligence data centres, decarbonisation and large-scale chip fabs all push demand higher.
At Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus, the company is pursuing a 1 gigawatt liquefied natural gas cogeneration plant. Newsis said Samsung last month selected GS Energy and Hanwha Energy as preferred bidders for the project, with each company expected to handle a 500 megawatt unit. The plan is aimed at covering rising power needs as the site expands, while also providing heat for industrial use. Samsung is also considering a future shift towards hydrogen co-firing, which would mix LNG with hydrogen in an effort to cut emissions.
SK hynix is following a similar path in its Yongin semiconductor cluster. The joint venture formed by SK Innovation E&S and Korea Midland Power is pressing ahead with a 1.05GW LNG cogeneration plant, which would include 1,050 megawatts of electricity capacity and heat output of 517 gigacalories per hour, according to Newsis. Hyundai Engineering was selected last month as the preferred bidder for construction work, and the project is targeting completion in September 2030. SK hynix has already built smaller self-generation facilities, known as Smart Energy Centres, at its Icheon and Cheongju sites to reduce dependence on outside power supplies.
The Yongin cluster itself illustrates how large the strain on energy systems has become. Newsis reported that projected power demand for the industrial estate exceeds 14GW, underscoring why long-term power purchase agreements are also being expanded. Hanwha Energy says it has broadened its business beyond LNG into solar power and energy storage systems, while SK Innovation E&S describes itself as Korea’s largest private LNG operator with a full gas-to-power value chain. Together, those positions help explain why the chipmakers are now working so closely with energy companies as they prepare for a more power-intensive manufacturing era.
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