GS Group building Asia's largest AI data center in Donghae, South Korea.
GS Group is building Asia's largest AI data center in Donghae, Gangwon Province. The mega-project carries a maximum investment of 120 trillion Korean won and is planned to reach 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by 2029. The move reflects Gangwon Province's effort to position itself as a hub for AI infrastructure amid the global surge in data center demand driven by AI expansion.
Gangwon Province, Donghae City, and GS Group signed a business agreement on July 6 at the Gangwon Provincial Government Office to establish the Donghae AI Data Center Campus. Signatories included Gangwon Governor Woo Sang-ho, Donghae Mayor Lee Jeong-hak, GS Vice Chairman Hong Soon-gi, and GS E&R Representative Hwang Byeong-so.
The facility will be built on approximately 70,000 pyeong within the Bukpyeong Second General Industrial Complex in Donghae City. Construction is planned in two phases: 1.2GW by 2028, followed by an additional 1.2GW by 2029. As a single facility, it will be Asia's largest AI data center.
GS announced the project at the National Report Meeting on Korea's Great Leap Forward on June 29. The infrastructure investment is estimated at 30 trillion Korean won, with total costs including graphics processing units (GPUs) and memory reaching up to 120 trillion Korean won.
The site offers significant advantages. GS developed the Bukpyeong Second General Industrial Complex between 2016 and 2022, with land already secured and power conditions established. The 1.2GW facility planned by 2028 will be powered through links to GS Donghae Power's generation facilities. Cooling will use immersion technology, with servers submerged in specialized cooling oil, requiring approximately 1,100 tons of industrial water daily.
Gangwon Province will implement a fast-track permitting system to accelerate development and provide active support for power and water infrastructure. Governor Woo's first official order upon taking office on July 1 was establishing an AI Data Center Promotion Team to advance the project.
The agreement represents a milestone in Governor Woo's vision for fostering the AI industry. According to recent disclosures, SK Group is planning a 1GW-scale AI data center in Gangwon Province. Should both projects proceed, the region could become South Korea's largest AI infrastructure cluster, with combined capacity of 3.4GW.
Globally, competition for AI data centers is intensifying. McKinsey & Company projects that while demand for AI data centers will grow 19–22% annually, supply will lag, creating a shortage of approximately 15 gigawatts in the U.S. alone by 2030. This supply-demand gap is driving global technology companies to expand AI infrastructure investments outside the U.S.
Gangwon Province is positioned to capitalize on this opportunity. The region offers abundant power supply, vast industrial land, and fewer location restrictions than competing areas. AI data centers are power-intensive, consuming far more electricity than conventional data centers, giving power-rich regions a competitive advantage. The capital region, by contrast, faces constraints in adding large-scale AI data centers due to power grid saturation.
"AI data centers are the core infrastructure of the AI industry and the foundation that will determine future industrial competitiveness," Governor Woo stated. "The Donghae AI Data Center will be the starting point for building Gangwon's AI industry ecosystem and a key hub for enhancing South Korea's AI industry competitiveness."