There is a Korean saying that firm roots make for flourishing branches and abundant fruit. The same holds for national industry. For future industries such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence to take hold as new growth engines for South Korea, companies need more than technology. They need a solid industrial foundation to support it. At the heart of that foundation are stable supplies of electricity and water.
The semiconductor and AI industries are moving quickly toward higher density and larger scale. In semiconductors, HBM4 high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging now determine competitiveness, while data centers are evolving into hyperscale facilities built around generative and physical AI. Highly dense, large-scale equipment requires enormous amounts of power, and cooling the heat such equipment generates demands a large and stable water supply as well.
The standard that determines where advanced companies locate is shifting beyond simply securing land toward how much electricity and water can be supplied, and how reliably. Industrial infrastructure in particular cannot be expanded quickly, which makes it essential to build it in advance and in step with corporate investment plans. The timing and scale of that infrastructure shape not only investment decisions but the long-term growth potential of an industrial complex.
The Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency is responding to this shift ahead of time. The Saemangeum industrial complex currently operates one 345-kilovolt substation, the equivalent of an expressway for electricity, and two 154-kilovolt substations, comparable to arterial roads, supplying ample power to tenant companies. The agency plans to expand capacity further by building two more 345-kilovolt substations and two more 154-kilovolt substations by 2030. It is also preparing to serve very large AI data centers by building converter stations for high-voltage direct current energy corridors linking Saemangeum with Seohwaseong, at 2 gigawatts in 2030, and with the Yeongheung thermal power plant, at 2 gigawatts in 2038.
Water supply conditions are another decisive competitive factor for advanced companies choosing a site. Saemangeum currently receives 30,000 tons of industrial water a day, and that figure is projected to reach about 300,000 tons a day by 2035. The agency also plans to continue adding intake and pressurization facilities to ensure a stable supply as water demand rises alongside new tenants and a larger industrial base.
Competitiveness as a location depends not only on land but on delivering the full range of infrastructure companies require, on time. Hyundai Motor Group's recent decision to invest 9 trillion won ($6.3 billion) in Saemangeum reflected the site's expansive land, the transport infrastructure of roads, rail and airport that the central government is taking the lead in building, and the water and power already in place there.
Taiwan, seeking to attract Google's largest data center in the Asia-Pacific region, built a large ultra-high-voltage substation and reliable industrial water pipelines in advance at a reclaimed-land industrial park in Changhua County. On that basis, Google has raised its investment from an initial $100 million to roughly $600 million. The Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency is likewise moving away from the practice of arranging infrastructure only after companies have been recruited, and is working instead to secure industrial infrastructure such as power and water first. Building on stable electricity and water capable of meeting the needs of advanced companies, we will firmly establish ourselves as a frontrunner in the industries of the future.