Gunsan AI Campus: SGC & OCI's $300\text{MW}$ Deep Ocean-Cooled Hub
Status: Active / Approved Planning & Site Allocation Phase (Tracking June 2026) | Location: Gunsan National Industrial Complex 2, Oehang-ro, Gunsan-si, North Jeolla Province, South Korea
Project Overview
The SGC Energy & OCI Gunsan AI Data Center Campus is a massive, highly anticipated 300 MW digital infrastructure initiative located inside the Gunsan National Industrial Complex 2 in North Jeolla Province. Officially launched via a landmark trilateral partnership agreement in February 2026, the development signals industrial conglomerate OCI Group’s strategic transition into a dedicated AI energy infrastructure pioneer, shifting mega-scale data loads away from the grid-locked Seoul region. Advancing systematically through spatial engineering blueprints and site preparation protocols on a massive 115,000-square-meter (35,000-pyeong) industrial plot in mid-2026, the facility addresses South Korea’s national strategy for regional digital infrastructure diversification. The coastal mega-campus is engineered explicitly for the extreme power and heat requirements of generative AI processing. Phase 1 introduces a 40 MW highly dense modular data block with construction scheduled to break ground by the end of 2026. Global big tech enterprises have already demonstrated early pre-leasing interest due to the facility's highly secure, independent on-site power infrastructure.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Gunsan AI Campus: SGC & OCI's $300\text{MW}$ Deep Ocean-Cooled Hub |
| Location | Gunsan National Industrial Complex 2, Oehang-ro, Gunsan-si, North Jeolla Province, South Korea |
| Status | Active / Approved Planning & Site Allocation Phase (Tracking June 2026) |
| Commissioning | Phase 1 modular block structural completion and commercial operational launch scheduled for Q1 2028 |
| Total IT Load | ~240.0 MW net critical operational compute capacity across full buildout |
| Total Capacity | 300.0 Megawatts (300 MW) gross ultimate master-planned industrial power footprint |
| Tier Level | Tier III+ Compliant (Concurrently maintainable fault-tolerant layout) |
| Project Type | Greenfield Multi-Phase, Eco-Friendly Hyperscale AI Factory & Regional Energy Cluster |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | Hanam-si |
| Population | 340,000 |
| Urban Agglomeration | ~26,000,000 (Seoul Capital Area / Seoul Metropolitan Region) |
| City GDP | Estimated USD 10–15 Billion |
| Per Capita Income | Approximately USD 35,000–45,000 |
| City Tier | Tier 2 City (part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area) |
| Key Strengths | Strategic location adjacent to Seoul, strong residential development, excellent transportation connectivity, growing commercial districts, proximity to major business hubs, high quality of life, access to the Seoul Metropolitan economy |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | SGC Energy Co., Ltd |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | KT Corporation (Core telecommunications infrastructure and IT cloud layout management) |
| Construction Contractor | SGC E&C (SGC Group’s global EPC plant construction specialist) |
| MEP Engineering | NA |
| Network Connectivity | Dense, carrier-neutral ecosystem integrating KT’s high-capacity national fiber backbones with physically isolated underground dark fiber loops connecting directly to international subsea cable landings |
| Power Infrastructure | SGC Green Power Co-Generation Plant Network (Direct, captive on-site biomass and clean energy generation integration) |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
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| Power Capacity | 300 MW gross ultimate utility profile starting with an initial 40 MW modular rapid-deployment hardware block |
| UPS Redundancy | $2(N+1)$ block-redundant solid-state UPS configurations engineered to completely absorb heavy GPU load variations and lightning transient surges |
| Cooling System | Next-generation green infrastructure utilizing deep ocean water cooling loops paired with direct-to-chip liquid cooling manifolds |
| Connectivity | Minimum of 4 physically separate, concrete-hardened fiber entrance vaults ensuring complete path routing diversity and zero network jitter |
| PUE Target | $\le 1.18$ design-optimized annualized operating profile driven by deep-sea thermal heat exchange loops |
| Energy Mix | Direct co-location with localized eco-friendly biomass plants, maximizing renewable energy tranches under the OCI sustainability framework |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | 2026 - Q1 (February 2026 Partnership Signing) |
| Construction Start | 2026 - Q4 (Targeted Year-End Groundbreaking) |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | 2028 - Q1 (Targeted Operational Delivery) |
| Full Buildout | 2031 - Q4 |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | Multi-hundred million dollar capital layout for Phase 1 construction, scaling into a multi-billion dollar master-planned infrastructure capitalization framework |
| Funding | Structured project finance lines arranged by Mirae Asset Securities, backed by OCI Group corporate equity and green digital infrastructure bonds |