At Jingwan-ri in Jingeon-eup, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, visited on October 19, a sign reading “345kV Namyangju Substation” was attached to the fence of a construction site where tower cranes stood. The site, where the Wangsuk Urban High-Tech Industrial Complex is planned, is expected to accommodate data centers for financial and IT companies including Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank and Kakao.
Among them, Shinhan Bank announced in December 2025 that, after reviewing 130 candidate sites nationwide, it would invest 850 billion won to build an AI data center of approximately 50 MW at this location. However, it has yet to clear even the first hurdle, a power grid impact assessment.
As Shinhan Bank’s case shows, data center construction projects face multiple barriers before construction even begins. Even after passing a power grid impact assessment, they cannot receive electricity unless transmission lines are in place.
Data centers blocked by unavailable power supply
According to data submitted by Korea Electric Power Corporation to the office of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sung-won, 1,107 applications had been filed nationwide under the pilot power grid impact assessment scheme as of the end of September 2026. Of these, 674, or 60.9%, were in the Seoul metropolitan area. Among the 648 applications in that region for which KEPCO had completed its technical review, 313, or 48.3%, were classified as unable to receive power. Nearly half were rejected before they could even get started.
Outside the Seoul metropolitan area, 33 of 327 applications with completed technical reviews, or 10.1%, were classified as unable to receive power. The rate in the Seoul metropolitan area was therefore approximately 4.8 times higher. Companies’ demand for sites is concentrated in the metropolitan area, but securing the necessary electricity there is relatively difficult. Kim said, “Excessive administrative backlogs are costing us the critical window for building data centers, which are essential to advanced industries.”
Completed facilities may still not receive power on time
Passing a preliminary review or power grid impact assessment does not mean electricity will be available on the requested date. As of August 2026, 232 customers seeking contracted power of at least 5 MW were at the electricity-use application stage, excluding cases where supply had already begun or applications had been canceled. Their requested capacity totaled approximately 12 GW, four times the approximately 2.95 GW of contracted power for data center customers currently supplied by KEPCO.
Separate supply-plan review data submitted by KEPCO, covering 2021 through August 2026, showed that 65 of 179 completed reviews, or 36.3%, were classified as “conditionally possible.” KEPCO explained that this applied when a planned substation’s completion date did not match the customer’s requested start date, or when additional time was needed to build supply lines. This means the start of supply must be adjusted to the facilities’ completion schedules.
Complaints surge as resident consent poses another challenge
Data center-related complaints received by KEPCO rose from 1 in 2021 to 5,095 through the end of September 2026. An industry representative said, “Just as people are reluctant to accept transmission networks and substations, opposition to data centers is intensifying over concerns about health and fires.”
The government is also seeking solutions on multiple fronts. Expansion of the transmission network was a central topic at a seminar titled “How can power grid bottlenecks and energy geopolitics be overcome?” hosted by the National Economic Advisory Council on October 28. Experts proposed charging demand-side companies such as data centers performance deposits and capacity reservation fees to screen out speculative applications unlikely to materialize; separating grid investment accounting from Korea Electric Power Corporation’s electricity sales losses and then gradually reflecting investment costs in tariffs in line with construction schedules; and establishing a temporary dedicated organization with full authority to set priorities and cost-allocation principles within 6 months and start priority projects in Yongin and Honam within 36 months.
Original Korean article: Chosun Ilbo
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
