Koramco Asset Management (Koramco) announced on the 29th that it will start developing the ‘Koramco Busan Jangrim Data Center (Koramco Jangrim IDC), a super large data center in Jangrim-dong, Saha-gu, Busan.
Koramco has already completed the establishment of a project financial investment company (PFV) and plans to start construction in the middle of next year when detailed design changes are completed.
Koramco Jangrim IDC was built with a total land area of 10,358㎡ and a total floor area of 46,877㎡ and a total floor area of 46,877㎡, and a 40MW (megawatt) water capacity contract was also signed with KEPCO.
The total project cost is about 580 billion won, with Koramco, LF, and GS Engineering & Construction participating as PFV shareholders.
Koramco Asset Management will take charge of the asset manager (AMC) and oversee the business, while Koramco Asset Trust will also participate as a fund manager.
GS Engineering & Construction and LG Uplus will be in charge of the construction and facility consignment operation.
In Busan, where the data center will be built, more than 90% of the domestic submarine optical cables will pass through and the power independence level will reach 217%.
As such, it is an area where global cloud providers are highly favored and supported by stable demand.
With the difficulty of developing IDC in the metropolitan area increasing significantly recently, it is evaluated as a key base for preoccupying the demand for relocation of data centers to local regions.
Data centers are investment targets that are attracting attention from domestic and global investors along with a surge in cloud and AI demand.
However, in Seoul and the metropolitan area, new supply is rapidly restricted due to restrictions on electricity supply and demand and local complaints.
Busan is the country’s largest communication network hub city with undersea optical cables and terrestrial (submarine cable access station), and has geographical strengths that directly connect networks with major Asian countries such as Japan and China.
It completed the addition of the K-Square Data Center in June and signed a facility operation agreement with DCI, a subsidiary of Brookfield, a global alternative investment management company, to develop Seonggok IDC in Ansan earlier this month to speed up data center investment.
Koramco has a separate development headquarters led by executives and employees from construction companies.
It also plans to develop a data center led by the development headquarters and accelerate data center investment through the launch of blind funds and listed REITs by the data center headquarters in the future.
Park Hyung-seok, CEO of Koramco Asset Management, said, “The data center is a key infrastructure that leads the fourth industrial revolution such as AI, cloud, and big data, and global investors’ interest is increasing. As Koramco and its affiliates have established a stable investment structure and the most effective operating system through strategic cooperation, they will create differentiated results.”
