[No Place for IDC] ② 146 Data Centers Nationwide, Half Located in the Capital Area

When I Went to Gurae-dong, Gimpo, There Was a Banner Saying 'Absolutely Oppose Data Centers'
Companies Prefer Co-location Centers Over Own Data Centers
Power Shortage in Seoul Metropolitan Area Makes Building More Difficult, and Local Opposition Is Hard to Overcome

Editor's NoteWhen you look up the word 'NIMBY' in the Britannica dictionary, it is defined as an acronym for 'Not In My BackYard.' It refers to collective action by local residents opposing the installation of undesirable facilities. Typically, this includes prisons and landfills, but Internet Data Centers (IDCs) also struggle to find acceptance due to perceptions that they consume massive amounts of electricity and generate electromagnetic pollution. The demand for IDCs is skyrocketing every year with the growth of AI, cloud computing, and the metaverse. Although investments are expanding annually, suitable locations for construction are scarce. Through an overview of the nationwide data center status and on-site reports, this article examines IDCs and diagnoses how to eliminate the NIMBY phenomenon surrounding IDCs, which serve as fundamental infrastructure for future industries.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] On the 14th, in front of the apartment complexes near the data center (IDC) construction site in Gurae-dong, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, banners saying "Data Center Out, Absolutely Oppose High-Voltage Power Lines!" were hung everywhere. The main reason for opposition is the concern that the electromagnetic waves emitted from the data center, which uses electricity 24 hours a day, could be harmful to human health. A large apartment complex is located 30 to 40 meters away from the data center site, and an elementary school is just 100 meters ahead. Private company A is planning to build a data center on a 19,685㎡ site in the Gurae-dong area, consisting of 4 basement floors, 8 above-ground floors, a height of 68.4 meters, and a total floor area of 95,051㎡. High-voltage power lines are scheduled to be laid over a 2 km stretch from the Gurae-dong substation to the data center site.

Resident A said, "High-voltage power lines pass under the apartment complex, and nearby there are elementary schools and kindergartens where these lines run. There are many vacant lots on the outskirts of Gimpo, so building a data center in a residential area makes no sense. Please cancel the permit."

Banners opposing the data center are hung in various places at the data center (IDC) construction site in Gurae-dong, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province.

Gimpo is not the only area where residents oppose data center construction. Residents around Jukjeon-dong, Suji-gu, Yongin-si, where the 'Pacific Sunny Data Center' is to be built, and residents in Hogye-dong, Anyang-si, where EveryShow's data center is planned, have formed countermeasure committees. The atmosphere is also tense in Baegot New Town, Siheung-si, where Kakao's data center construction is underway. Recently, Yongin City rejected a construction notification for a data center in the area, citing insufficient safety measures for school commuting routes nearby.

There have been cases where data centers were relocated to other areas due to residents' opposition. In 2017, Naver attempted to build its second data center on a 132,230㎡ site in Gongse-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, but after failing to resolve conflicts with residents, it moved to Sejong City.

Data Center Demand Surges Annually... Difficult to Build in the Metropolitan Area Due to Power Shortage, Residents Misunderstand as 'Nuisance Facilities'

Data centers, often called 'server hotels,' are facilities that store data connected to the internet. They house equipment necessary for providing IT services such as servers, storage, and networks, operating and managing them 24/7. So far, domestic data centers have grown mainly for self-use by government public institutions and large corporations. In recent years, commercial data centers that rent out space like hotels for servers have been continuously built. Since companies face many considerations such as site selection, power line installation, and generation capacity when building their own data centers, more are choosing to move into data centers built by specialized operators.

Although demand for data centers is rapidly increasing every year, construction is not easy. Most major data centers are concentrated in the metropolitan area, and due to a shortage of surplus power, it has become difficult to build new data centers near the metropolitan area. Moving to provincial areas requires tenant companies to hire separate staff for management, leading to high labor costs, and it is difficult to resolve the 'nuisance sentiment' among local residents.

According to data received by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy from Korea Electric Power Corporation, there are a total of 146 data centers in South Korea, distributed as follows: 49 in Seoul, 37 in Gyeonggi Province, 10 in Jeolla Province, 21 in Chungcheong Province, 22 in Gyeongsang Province, and 7 in Gangwon Province. Sixty percent of the locations and 70% of the power demand are concentrated in the metropolitan area. Considering the 446 applications for planned electricity usage notifications, these ratios are expected to expand to the 90% range by 2029.

Concerns have been raised that the concentration of data centers in the metropolitan area could cause side effects such as data safety issues and regional imbalance in development. In the event of disasters like fires or earthquakes, the nation's infrastructure could be paralyzed. To address the metropolitan concentration problem, the government plans to evaluate new data centers entering the metropolitan area by temporarily suspending electricity supply for a certain period and provide benefits such as partial electricity fee exemptions to encourage regional dispersion. Financial and tax incentives will also be prepared, and potential sites in regions will be actively identified.