South Korea's AI and chip production expansion may boost power demand by 25 to 30 gigawatts

South Korea's electricity demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by plans from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to expand chip production capacity, along with the construction of new artificial intelligence data centers. The South Korean Energy Minister stated that these plans will lead to a substantial rise in the country's electricity demand; demand from artificial intelligence alone is expected to increase South Korea's electricity needs by 25 to 30 gigawatts. The South Korean government plans to release a new long-term energy plan next month, extending the current plan by two years to 2040. One key issue is whether South Korea will announce the construction of more nuclear reactors. If the additional 25 to 30 gigawatts of electricity is entirely supplied by nuclear power, based on the current standard for domestically designed nuclear power units, this would be equivalent to adding about 20 new nuclear reactors. As Asia's fourth-largest economy, South Korea currently has 26 nuclear reactors.