SK Telecom announced on the 3rd that it is building the largest AI data center in Korea in Ulsan in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), noting that preferences for data center locations are also changing with the advancement of AI technology.
On this day, Vice President Ha Min-yong, head of the SK Telecom Broadband AI DC business division, introduced the specific plans for the Ulsan AI Data Center (AI DC) project and the changes in the industrial environment through an executive column posted on the SKT newsroom.
Vice President Ha explained, “While existing data centers primarily focused on data storage and processing, making the location in the metropolitan area important, AI data centers are centered around the learning and inference of AI models, making sufficient power supply, spacious sites, and global scalability more critical.”
The Ulsan Mipo industrial complex AI data center, which SK Telecom is jointly pursuing with AWS, is scheduled to be operational by 2027. It will stably receive 300MW (megawatts) of power from a nearby SK Multi Utility Power Plant, allowing it to secure power at a lower price than Korea Electric Power Corporation.
They plan to design the rack layout within the data center to be densely arranged and to introduce a high-efficiency cooling system that combines air cooling and liquid cooling in a hybrid method to ensure both efficiency and stability.
Ulsan is located within an industrial complex, which minimizes concerns about noise and electromagnetic interference, and with numerous subsidiaries such as SK Energy and SK Innovation nearby, it is advantageous for securing sites for future gigawatt (GW) expansions.
In particular, Ulsan is 40km from Busan, an international submarine cable landing point, and it is noted as a strength that it can be connected to North America and the Asia-Pacific region through the high-speed network of SK Broadband's submarine cable in Busan, accommodating global AI data demand.
Vice President Ha projected, “Including the data center to be built in Guro, Seoul, we will secure a total of more than 300MW by 2030, making it possible to generate annual revenues of about 1 trillion won.”