Pranav Hotkar
Seoul, South Korea - May 18, 2026 - HD Hyundai Marine Solution has entered the North American AI data center infrastructure market through a new partnership with U.S.-based Aperion Energy Group, focused on power generation and maintenance systems for large-scale data center operations. The agreement marks the company’s latest move into the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure sector.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a long-term framework covering operation, maintenance, and lifecycle services for 33 power generation engines that will support a new data center campus currently under development in Texas.
The partnership builds on a separate agreement announced in April between HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Aperion Energy Group for the supply of 684MW of power-generation infrastructure based on Hyundai’s 20MW-class HiMSEN engines. The deal represented the largest engine supply contract in the company’s history and one of the largest dedicated power infrastructure agreements tied to AI data center development.
The HiMSEN engines are designed for large-scale continuous power operations requiring rapid startup performance and stable load response, capabilities increasingly viewed as critical for hyperscale AI campuses and GPU-intensive infrastructure environments. Industry analysts say rising AI electricity demand is driving growing interest in localized and dedicated power-generation systems for data centers across North America.
An official from HD Hyundai Marine Solution said the company intends to use the project to demonstrate its aftermarket maintenance and operational capabilities in the U.S. market while expanding recurring service revenue tied to AI infrastructure assets.
The agreement also reflects a broader shift occurring across the data center sector, where operators are increasingly prioritizing resilient onsite and backup power infrastructure as AI clusters place unprecedented strain on regional grids. According to the International Energy Agency, data centers are expected to become one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand globally through the end of the decade.
For HD Hyundai Marine Solution, the Texas project provides a strategic entry point into the North American AI infrastructure market beyond its traditional maritime business operations. The company said the collaboration could eventually expand into broader long-term service agreements and operations management contracts covering the full lifecycle of data center power systems.
