SK Ecoplant, DCT Telecom and KB Asset Management have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a 120-megawatt global data centre campus in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, completion of the four 30MW data centre buildings, plus undersea fibre-optic cables and a landing station, is scheduled for 2027.

SK Ecoplant will be responsible for the construction of the campus and operation of the joint venture. DCT will be in charge of the landing station and undersea fibre-optic cables. KB Asset Management will provide funding via a digital infrastructure fund. Total investment is estimated at 1.5 trillion won (US$1.12 billion).

The local governments of North Gyeongsang Province and Pohang will provide some subsidies since the project supports the Korean government’s strategy of encouraging data centres outside of Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.

The Pohang site will introduce the business model of linking a data centre with a landing station for the first time in South Korea, SK Ecoplant says. The data centre’s landing station will be directly connected to the landing station of Japan’s Fukuoka, with plans to connect to other landing stations in the United States and Europe later, helping Korea attract global big data firms.

“As the No. 1 fuel cell operator in Korea last year, we will actively participate in the government's efforts by using all of our capabilities as a data centre developer and contribute to energy distribution,” says SK Ecoplant chief executive officer Park Kyung-il. “We will do our best to help the Pohang data centre campus to become a global digital infrastructure model beyond Korea.”