'The Filial Giant Earning 4 Billion Won Monthly' Massive Solar Panels... 'Bright Sunshine' AI Data Center Haetteulnal Found in Honam [AI Era: Electricity is National Power]⑩

Higher Efficiency Than Other Regions Due to Abundant Sunlight
Average Generation Time Exceeds 4 Hours
Vast Reclaimed Land and Lakes Offer Great Potential
Favorable Conditions for Attracting Eco-Friendly AI Cluster

On the 24th of last month, I visited the Solar City Renewable Energy Industrial Complex in Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do. This is the largest solar power industrial complex in Jeollanam-do, where 250,000 solar panels, each large enough for two adult men to lie down on, are installed. The area is about 450,000 pyeong, roughly half the size of Yeouido in Seoul. It takes about an hour and 30 minutes just to walk around the perimeter.

An aerial view of Solarsido in Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do. Based on the river flowing from top to bottom in the photo, the left side is the Solarsido Renewable Energy Operation Center, and the right side is the 1.2 million-pyeong site where the 'AI Supercluster Hub' will be established. Photo by Sim Seong-a

Walking further inside through the solar panels, I came across the Solar City Renewable Energy Operation Center. The center was equipped with monitors that allowed real-time checking of solar power output, total generation time, total carbon dioxide reduction, and the status of the Energy Storage System (ESS) at a glance.

That afternoon, the sky over Haenam was quite cloudy. Nevertheless, the solar power output displayed was over 90 MW. The cumulative power generation of the Solar City solar power plant this year reached 18.243 GWh. Moon Oksik, CEO of Solar City Solar Power Generation, explained, "Here, we can systematically manage a large number of panels and ESS using a monitoring system, and respond immediately if any issues arise."

At this site, electricity generated during the day when output is high is first stored in the ESS, then sent to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) through substations after 4 p.m., when power consumption is high. CEO Moon said, "The average daily power generation is 360 MWh. In terms of revenue, this amounts to 130 million KRW per day and 4 billion KRW per month. On days with good generation like today, we can produce up to 400-500 MWh of electricity."

Thanks to the region's abundant sunlight, the generation hours are also exceptional compared to other areas. The national average is 3.6 hours, but Solar City easily exceeds 4 hours. Currently, the total renewable energy generation facility capacity in Jeollanam-do is 6 GW. The actual generation capacity is equivalent to more than one 1 GW-class nuclear power plant. A Jeollanam-do official said, "Due to the intermittency of renewable energy, 6 GW of solar power facilities are needed to match the output of one nuclear power plant, but because Jeollanam-do has abundant sunlight, 4 to 5 GW is sufficient."

The Solar City Renewable Industrial Complex in Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, visited on the 24th of last month. There are 250,000 massive solar panels towering well above the height of an adult man. Photo by Shim Seong-ah

Jeollanam-do is actively pursuing the attraction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers by utilizing this abundant renewable energy. Half of the electricity produced in Jeollanam-do is used within the province, and the rest is sent to the metropolitan area. Jeollanam-do has ample space for additional solar power installations, such as wide reclaimed land and lakes. The province believes that fully utilizing these areas offers excellent potential for attracting data centers powered by renewable energy.

The plan to build renewable energy data centers in Jeollanam-do is already taking shape. About a 10-minute drive from the Solar City industrial complex revealed a vast land area beyond imagination. Jeollanam-do plans to invest a total of 15 trillion KRW by 2030 on this 1.2 million pyeong site to create the world's largest 'AI Supercluster Hub' with a capacity exceeding 3 GW. This site will include AI computing infrastructure, data centers, and large-scale ESS facilities.

Jeollanam-do signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. investment company Stockfarm Road (SFR) to attract a super-large data center with a capacity of 3 GW within the province. According to the province, SFR plans to invest up to 15 trillion KRW, and the AI Supercluster Hub is expected to be completed by 2028. Once established, this facility is anticipated to become the world's largest data center.

An official from the province said, "There are very few places worldwide where flat land, power supply through renewable energy, and smooth industrial water supply all come together. Using only about half of the electricity produced annually in Jeollanam-do is sufficient, and the province's potential generation capacity is much higher, so these conditions seem to have worked positively."

Infrastructure essential for attracting data centers, such as electricity and industrial water, is also being developed. Jeollanam-do signed a business agreement with KEPCO to install a 500 MW-class substation next to the data center site by 2028. This substation will draw electricity produced from nearby solar power plants like Solar City. Industrial water will be sourced from the nearby Yeongam Lake.

An official explained, "Based on Solar City's natural environment with abundant sunlight, we plan to create a large-scale eco-friendly renewable energy complex including solar and wind power, and supply the renewable energy produced here to nearby data centers and industrial belts to achieve carbon neutrality."

The 1.2 million-pyeong site in Solarsido, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, visited on the 24th of last month, where the 'AI Supercluster Hub' will be established. A signboard reading 'RE100 Planned Site' is installed. Jeollanam-do plans to use the electricity generated from renewable energy here for the data center. Photo by Shim Seong-a

Attempts to build data centers using renewable energy are not limited to Jeollanam-do. Local governments nationwide are competing to attract related investments and large-scale projects. Global IT companies aiming to establish data centers based on eco-friendly energy are key target customers to realize carbon neutrality.

Gwangju City is building an eco-friendly AI cluster in the nearby advanced 3rd district using abundant solar power and fuel cells from Jeollanam-do. Gwangju City has secured 880 NVIDIA GPU H100 units for the first time in Korea. So far, it has signed 263 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to attract AI companies and plans to establish specialized educational institutions such as an AI academy and AI gifted high school.

The AI data center operated by NHN in Gwangju receives 6 MW of electricity each from Suwan Substation and Advanced Substation. A Gwangju city official said, "We plan to build solar power and fuel cell facilities to make the advanced 3rd district an energy self-sufficient industrial complex." Gwangju obtained a power generation business permit last year and plans to participate in the general hydrogen bidding market this year before starting the first phase of the fuel cell power generation project.

As the first phase, Gwangju will invest 119.3 billion KRW by 2027 to install 18.84 MW of fuel cells. Annual power production is expected to be 142.4 GWh, enough to supply electricity to about 48,000 households. This is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 30% compared to existing thermal power generation.