South Korea’s $350 billion U.S. investment plan not only funds power generation but is also driving a surge in orders for battery and grid equipment makers, as rising electricity demand from AI data centres and semiconductor plants accelerates market growth.
South Korea’s planned power investment in the United States is set to do more than finance new generation capacity. It is also likely to lift orders for battery and grid equipment makers as artificial intelligence data centres and semiconductor plants keep driving electricity demand higher, according to The Korea Times. The newspaper reported that the first project under Seoul’s $350 billion U.S. investment package is a $22.3 billion gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Texas, designed to support fast-growing industrial and digital power needs. The project points to a broader market for energy storage systems and transmission gear, not just turbines and generators.
For Korean battery makers, the strongest near-term opportunity may be in energy storage systems, or ESS, which can absorb electricity when demand is low and release it at peak times. That function is particularly valuable for data centres, where power use can swing sharply and reliability standards are exacting. The Korea Times said LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On all see ESS as a key growth area at a time when the electric vehicle market has weakened. The paper also noted that LG Energy Solution has been selected as an ESS partner for Nvidia’s AI factory programme, while SK On recently signed a 1.07 trillion won contract with POSCO Future M for lithium iron phosphate cathode materials as it expands its storage business in the United States.
Samsung SDI is also benefiting from the shift. According to iM Securities, as cited by The Korea Times, the company’s ESS sales were expected to rise by about 32% in the third quarter from the previous quarter, and to increase by roughly 33% from a year earlier in the July-to-September period. That reflects a broader change in the market, with storage increasingly treated as essential infrastructure for AI facilities rather than a supplementary option. Industry officials quoted by the newspaper said stable storage and transmission systems are becoming inseparable from AI data centres.
The second wave of demand is not limited to batteries. Korean makers of high-voltage gear, including HD Hyundai Electric, LS Electric and Hyosung Heavy Industries, are also positioned to gain as new plants and data centres require transformers, circuit breakers and other transmission and distribution equipment. The Korea Times said all three companies have already expanded their U.S. order books as investment has accelerated in the ageing American grid. Separately, Korea JoongAng Daily has reported that global investors such as KKR and Brookfield Asset Management are pouring more than $10 billion into South Korea’s own AI data centre market, underlining how the same infrastructure cycle is strengthening demand on both sides of the Pacific.
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