> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.sotkn.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 3 of 6 GW: Who Gets Paid While SK hynix Builds Faster Than Korea's Grid - URL: https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-sk-hynix-fab-power-october-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-11T08:16:49.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-11T08:16:49.000Z - Description: SK's chairman said on 9 October that SK hynix would build its next chip site fast, even before water and power are ready. At Yongin it has 3 of the 6 GW it needs. Memory makers are paid first, grid gear makers next. The stuck step is the power hookup. - Author: Sean - Tags: #market-korea, Markets, Semiconductors *SK hynix wants to build memory fabs faster than Korea can wire them. On 9 October its chairman said the next site could start before its water and power are finished. At Yongin, the company has half the power it needs lined up. That gap decides who gets paid, and when.* **KOREA PULSE** · Data as at 11 Oct 2026 · Next update: Korea's early-October export count; first Yongin clean room in February 2027 **Affects:** [Semiconductors](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/semiconductors/) · [HBM](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/semiconductors/hbm/) · [AI Data Centers](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/ai-data-centers/) — Markets: [Korea](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/) · [Taiwan](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/taiwan/) · [US](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/) **In short:** SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said on 9 October that SK hynix would build its planned Gwangju chip site as fast as possible, even before all its water and power supply is finished. At the Yongin cluster, SK hynix needs about 6 GW and has 3 GW lined up. KEPCO, which builds the grid, is deep in debt and was turned down when it asked the chipmakers to prepay their power bills. Memory makers are paid first, grid gear makers next. The stuck step is the power hookup. Map of who gets paid — not a buy list. Education only, not advice to buy or sell any security. Figures are as reported; many dates are targets, not contracts. Our own sums are labelled. ### The numbers that matter this week Yongin chip cluster, power needed 15 GW More than Seoul's peak of 10-12 GW Primary SK hynix at Yongin, lined up 3 of 6 GW The rest waits on new lines, plan says 2031 Primary Gwangju site: first power, then water 2028 → 2030 Government targets Primary KEPCO debt, end of June ₩210.7T About ₩11.5B of interest a day Primary SK Group AI data centre, Gangneung 400 of 1,000 MW First phase sized to the substation Primary The power hookup Grid Lines take far longer than buildings Stuck step Figures from government plans and company statements reported 21 Sep to 9 Oct 2026\. Status chips are Second Order’s read. **On this page:** [Why Korea?](#why-korea) · [What Chey said](#what-changed) · [The power gap](#power-gap) · [Who pays for the grid?](#who-pays-grid) · [Our math](#our-math) · [Who gets paid](#money-goes) · [What is stuck?](#still-stuck) · [Dates next](#dates) · [What would change this](#change-view) · [FAQ](#faq) ## Why does Korea matter this week? Because Korea makes most of the world's AI memory, and it is selling everything it can make. Korea's chip exports set a record of US$60.3 billion in September, the trade ministry said on 1 October, with memory demand still rising and contract prices still going up. We covered that in [the Korea chip exports Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-chip-exports-record-october-2026/), and what it meant for Samsung's profit in [the Samsung third-quarter Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-samsung-q3-profit-october-2026/). The answer to a memory shortage is more fabs. But a memory fab needs huge amounts of power and water, and Korea's grid was not built for the scale now planned. This week's news is the clearest sign yet that the companies want to move faster than the power can follow. This Pulse follows the build, not the sales. For what high-bandwidth memory is, see [HBM, explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/hbm-explained/). 1 · AI chip buyers want more memory **Who:** Chip designers, cloud companies, AI labs **Paid:** Korea's chip exports a record US$60.3B in September Demand 2 · Memory makers plan more fabs **Who:** SK hynix, Samsung **Paid:** Yongin pulled forward; Gwangju added Paid first 3 · Builders, toolmakers and grid gear makers **Who:** Construction, chip tools, transformers **Paid:** Paid as shells, clean rooms and substations go up Paid on the build 4 · KEPCO has to connect it all **Who:** The state power company **Paid:** Short of money; lines take years Stuck step ## What did SK's chairman say? On Friday 9 October, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won made his first visit to the planned chip site at Gwangju Military Airport, in Korea's south-west, Aju Press reported. He was briefed on the planned power and water supply. What he said, in plain words: - **Speed first.** If SK hynix decides it can build there, it will move as quickly as possible, and would rather pay more than go slowly. - **Yongin is not enough.** SK hynix has already pulled the finish date for all four of its Yongin fabs forward by 12 years, to 2033 from 2045, and he now thinks even that may fall short of demand. - **Build in parallel.** Gwangju could be built at the same time as Yongin, not after it. - **Start before the utilities.** Construction could begin before all the planned water and power supply is finished, if the schedules can be lined up. - **No date yet.** He gave no start date. SK hynix still has to match its plan to the government's timetable for water, power and roads. The size is large. In June, SK hynix said it plans to invest about 400 trillion won, roughly US$299 billion, in a new south-west cluster. Chey said Gwangju is about two-thirds the size of Yongin. The final scale still needs board approval. And the government's timetable for the site is slow by chip standards. The military is due to move out, or temporarily spread out, by the second half of 2028\. First-stage power supply is planned by the end of 2028\. Water is to be secured by 2030\. That is why “start before the utilities” matters: the company is saying the building is not the slow part. The plug and the pipe are. ## How big is the power gap? ![Chart of power needed and lined up at Korea's Yongin chip cluster: 15 GW needed, 9 GW lined up](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/korea-sk-hynix-fab-power-october-2026-print-1.png) Yongin has 9 GW of its 15 GW lined up. · Education only. Start with Yongin, south of Seoul, where both companies are building. On 21 September a senior official at the energy ministry laid out the plan at an engineering forum, The Herald Business reported. The whole Yongin cluster will need about 15 GW. For scale, Seoul's own peak demand is 10 to 12 GW. - Samsung needs about 9 GW for its fabs and is understood to have 6 GW lined up. A gas-fired plant inside the complex comes first, existing lines are expanded to reach 6 GW by 2032, and new lines from the east coast and central Korea finish the job by 2037. - SK hynix needs about 6 GW for its four fabs and has 3 GW lined up. A combined heat and power plant inside the complex adds 1 GW, short lines nearby take it to 3 GW, and new lines from the east coast are meant to deliver the full 6 GW by 2031. The first SK hynix fab is not the problem. It has 2.83 GW secured for its first two fabs, and in January Gyeonggi province and KEPCO agreed to bury a 27-kilometre line under a highway to carry 3 GW more, after residents fought overhead towers, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. SK hynix says the first clean room of its first Yongin fab opens in February 2027, inside a fab costing about 31 trillion won. The problem is the later fabs. Every fab pulled forward needs its power pulled forward too. The south-west is easier: the Honam region already makes more electricity than it uses, with 3 GW planned by 2029 and 6.3 GW by 2031\. That is part of why Gwangju appeals. ![Chart of Korean builds sized to available power: Gangneung data centre cut to 400 MW, Gwangju power and water dates](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/korea-sk-hynix-fab-power-october-2026-shift-1.png) Korean builds are being sized to the plug. · Education only. The same limit is already shaping AI data centres in Korea. In Gangneung, on the east coast, SK Group had planned a 1 GW AI data centre. On 2 October the province and city confirmed a site, but for a first phase of 400 MW, scaled to the substation capacity that exists, with the other 600 MW to be discussed once the grid is built out, The Herald Business reported. It is the same pattern we saw in [Singapore's data centre licences](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/singapore/singapore-data-centre-licence-october-2026/) and [Malaysia's plugged-in halls](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/malaysia/malaysia-data-centre-power-use-october-2026/): projects get sized to the plug, not to the plan. Power at Yongin (government plan) Whole cluster15 GW needed Samsung9 GW needed · 6 GW lined up SK hynix6 GW needed · 3 GW lined up SK hynix full supply2031 target Samsung full supply2037 target Other Korean builds Gwangju chip site, first powerEnd of 2028 Gwangju chip site, water2030 Honam power3 GW by 2029 · 6.3 GW by 2031 Gangneung AI data centre400 MW of a 1 GW plan First Yongin clean roomFebruary 2027 ## Who pays for the grid? This is the part that rarely makes the headline. Korea Electric Power Corporation, KEPCO, builds and runs almost all of the country's power lines and sells most of its electricity. It needs roughly 100 trillion won to expand the grid, The Korea Herald reported, and Hana Securities puts the bill for lines and substations as high as 124.3 trillion won. KEPCO does not have that money. Its debt was 210.7 trillion won at the end of June, costing about 11.5 billion won a day in interest. Rate rises are politically hard before the 2028 general election. And a temporary rule that lets KEPCO borrow more ends at the end of 2027: it had 71.5 trillion won of bonds in June, against about 50 trillion won allowed under the old limit. So KEPCO tried a shortcut. It asked Samsung to pay about 20 trillion won and SK hynix about 5 trillion won upfront, roughly five years of their power bills, with interest above the two-year government bond rate credited back against future bills. In September both companies said no, Seoul Economic Daily reported. They agreed the grid needs to be built faster, but did not want to bet that the chip boom lasts another five years. So the chipmakers want the grid built faster, and the company that builds it is short of money and has just been told its biggest customers will not lend it the cash. That is the stuck step. We looked at the US version in [the utilities Analysis](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/utilities-bill-data-centers-before-power-where-cash-sticks/), and at the Texas version in [the Texas large-load Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/us/us-texas-large-load-rule-october-2026/). ## Our math: how big are the gaps? - SK hynix at Yongin: 3 GW lined up of 6 GW needed, 50% (our arithmetic). Samsung: 6 of 9 GW, about 67%. The whole cluster: 9 of 15 GW, about 60%. - Gangneung: the first phase of 400 MW is 40% of the 1 GW SK Group planned (our arithmetic). - Gwangju: first-stage power at the end of 2028, water by 2030, a gap of up to about two years between the two targets (our arithmetic). A memory fab needs both. - KEPCO's interest: 11.5 billion won a day is about 4.2 trillion won a year (our arithmetic). That is about the same as Samsung's entire power bill last year, 4.1 trillion won. - The prepayment: 25 trillion won would have covered about a quarter of the roughly 100 trillion won grid plan (our arithmetic). What this tells you: the money for the fabs exists. The memory makers are earning record profits. The money for the grid is the part nobody has agreed to provide, and the grid is what sets the date new memory actually ships. What it does not tell you: how much new memory Korea will make in any given year, or what it will sell for. Fab output depends on yields and on how the companies split wafers between kinds of memory, which we covered in [the HBM wafer-mix Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-hbm-dram-capacity-mix-september-2026/). For how to read money spent long before it earns, see [cash capex, explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/cash-capex-explained/). ## Who gets paid first? ![Infographic: who gets paid while Korea's chip fabs wait on power, and why the grid hookup is the stuck step](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/korea-sk-hynix-fab-power-october-2026-infographic-1.png) Who gets paid / stuck step while the fabs wait. · Education only. Follow the money from the memory shortage to the switched-on fab. First, the memory makers — on scarcity. Every month a new fab waits for power is a month the market stays short. That keeps prices firm for the memory SK hynix, Samsung and Micron already make. Korea's chip exports rose 262.8% from a year earlier in September, with export volumes growing and contract prices still rising, the trade ministry said. A slow grid does not hurt today's sellers. It extends their good years. See [who makes HBM](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/who-makes-hbm/) for the three companies in this market. Second, the makers of grid gear — on orders placed early. Transformers, switchgear and circuit breakers are ordered before a plant is built, and the buyers are queueing. HD Hyundai Electric, one of Korea's big transformer makers, won US$1.44 billion of orders in the second quarter, up 44.6%, and had an order book of US$8.49 billion at the end of June, Seoul Economic Daily reported. Its operating margin was 25.1%. It said profit on switchboards for Korean chip plants had improved sharply. When the grid is the stuck step, the people who sell grid parts are paid ahead of the people who use the power. Third, the builders and toolmakers — on the shell and clean room. Construction firms are paid as fabs go up, and toolmakers are paid as clean rooms are filled. Korea imported US$3.44 billion of chipmaking equipment in September, up 50.8%, the trade ministry said. A clean room full of tools earns nothing until it has steady power and water, the lesson of [the Micron clean room Analysis](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/micron-clean-room-stuck-step-what-price-assumes/). For who makes the tools, see [who makes wafer fab equipment](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/who-makes-wafer-fab-equipment/). ![Calendar of dates that decide when new Korean memory fabs get power](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/korea-sk-hynix-fab-power-october-2026-calendar-1.png) Dates that test the read. · Education only. Fourth, KEPCO — which carries the bill and collects last. It spends years building lines, then earns it back slowly at prices the government controls. The cloud companies waiting on AI data centres, like the one in Gangneung, wait with it. See [how long it takes to build an AI data center](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/how-long-does-it-take-to-build-an-ai-data-center/) for why power is the longest clock. One-line rule: while Korea's new fabs wait on power, memory makers are paid first on scarcity, grid gear makers next on early orders, builders on the shell, and KEPCO carries the bill. The stuck step is the power hookup. ## So what is the stuck step? The power hookup, and who pays for it. Not the money for the fab, not the land, not the demand. Three things make it stick: - **Time:** a KEPCO planning official said in April that a big 345-kilovolt line typically takes about 13 years in Korea, while a data centre takes two to three. Even the fast-tracked plans for Yongin run to 2031 and 2037. - **Money:** KEPCO is carrying 210.7 trillion won of debt, faces a lower borrowing limit after 2027, and has been told no on prepayments. - **Water:** at Gwangju the water target, 2030, comes about two years after the first power. A fab needs both. So-what: Chey's remarks are a signal that SK hynix sees the grid, not its own balance sheet, as the limit on how fast it can grow. That has two sides. For buyers of memory, it means new supply arrives on the grid's schedule, which keeps the shortage alive longer. For KEPCO, it means pressure to find money it does not have. For the layer view, see [HBM in the Semiconductors stack](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/semiconductors/hbm/) and [the AI Data Centers stack](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/ai-data-centers/). ## Which dates test this read next? - 9 Oct 2026 — Chey visits the Gwangju site. Done. - Mid-October and 1 Nov 2026 — Korea's export counts for October. The test: do chip exports stay near September's record? - February 2027 — the first clean room of SK hynix's first Yongin fab is due to open. - End of 2027 — KEPCO's temporary higher borrowing limit ends unless it is extended. The test: new capital, a rate rise, a law change, or a new deal with the chipmakers. - Second half of 2028 — the military moves off the Gwangju site; first-stage power is due by the end of 2028. - 2029 to 2031 — the power plant inside SK hynix's Yongin complex, 3 GW in Honam by 2029, the full 6 GW for SK hynix at Yongin by 2031. - 2030 — water for the Gwangju site. - 2033 — all four SK hynix Yongin fabs, after the 12-year pull-forward. The KEPCO date matters most. If no one funds the grid before the borrowing limit drops, the east coast lines can slip, and the later fabs depend on them. ## What would change this view? - The government injects large new capital into KEPCO or raises power prices for big users — the money problem eases and the line dates become more credible. - Samsung and SK hynix agree a smaller prepayment or fund grid links themselves — the chipmakers start paying for the plug directly. - East coast line work is delayed by local opposition — the 2031 and 2037 dates slip, and the stuck step tightens. - SK hynix sets a Gwangju start date with board approval — the build moves from talk to a schedule. - Memory prices fall in 2027 contracts — the urgency to build fades and the grid gap matters less. - Nuclear life extensions or new gas plants are approved fast — more power closer to the fabs, sooner. ## Practical takeaways - SK's chairman said on 9 October that SK hynix will build its Gwangju site as fast as possible, even before water and power are finished - Yongin needs about 15 GW; SK hynix has 3 of its 6 GW lined up, Samsung 6 of 9 GW - KEPCO needs about 100 trillion won for the grid, carries 210.7 trillion won of debt, and was refused a 25 trillion won prepayment - Who gets paid first: memory makers on scarcity; grid gear makers on early orders; builders on the shell - Stuck step: the power hookup and who funds it ## FAQ **What did SK's chairman say on 9 October?** Chey Tae-won visited the planned chip site at Gwangju Military Airport for the first time. He said SK hynix would move as quickly as possible, possibly building there at the same time as Yongin, and that work could start before all the planned water and power supply is finished if the schedules can be lined up. He gave no start date. **How much power does SK hynix need at Yongin?** About 6 GW for its four planned fabs, according to the government plan presented on 21 September. It has 3 GW lined up. The rest depends on new lines, including lines from the east coast, which the plan puts at 2031. **Why is KEPCO part of this story?** KEPCO, the state power company, has to build the lines and substations. It carried 210.7 trillion won of debt at the end of June, and Samsung and SK hynix turned down its request to pay five years of power bills in advance to help fund the grid. **Is this investment advice?** No. Education only. It maps who gets paid and which step is stuck. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. ## Keep reading on the map - [Korea Markets hub](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/) — country page - [Korea chip exports record Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-chip-exports-record-october-2026/) — the demand side - [Samsung Q3 profit Pulse](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/korea/korea-samsung-q3-profit-october-2026/) — who gets paid on memory - [Semiconductors stack](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/semiconductors/) — layer map - [What is an AI data center?](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/what-is-an-ai-data-center/) · [HBM, explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/hbm-explained/) - [All Markets doors](https://www.sotkn.com/markets/) — Taiwan, Korea, US, China, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia **Get the Wire.** Second Order’s free daily brief on what moved in the AI chip map. [Read the Wire →](https://www.sotkn.com/the-wire/) · [Subscribe free →](https://www.sotkn.com/#/portal/signup) **Members’ Analysis (teaser):** When the grid is slower than the fab, the stuck step moves from the factory to the power line. Who carries the cost in between? The free line: the plug is paid for before the memory ships. [Read the Analysis →](https://www.sotkn.com/analysis/where-does-the-stuck-step-move/) **How we check this.** Power needs and dates come from the government plans as presented by officials and reported by named Korean outlets. Company figures come from SK hynix's own newsroom and the trade ministry's release. KEPCO's finances are as reported from its own statements and filings to lawmakers. Analyst price targets and buy calls are left out on purpose. Anything we worked out ourselves is labelled “our arithmetic”. We do not invent margins, prices or dates. The references we used are listed at the end. [Our editorial standards →](https://www.sotkn.com/editorial-standards/) Not investment advice. Do your own research. --- ### References 1. Aju Press, SK chief Chey visits Gwangju site, eyes faster fab build, 9 Oct 2026\. [ajupress.com](https://www.ajupress.com/view/20261009151001687?ref=sotkn.com) — Chey's remarks, Yongin pulled forward 12 years, Gwangju power and water dates. 2. The Herald Business, How will power bottlenecks at Samsung and SK hynix's Yongin complex be solved?, 21 Sep 2026\. [biz.heraldcorp.com](https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10881198?ref=sotkn.com) — 15 GW Yongin need, power lined up by company, Honam power plan. 3. Korea JoongAng Daily, Gyeonggi gov't, Kepco sign MOU to build underground power grid for SK hynix's chip fab, 22 Jan 2026\. [koreajoongangdaily.com](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/business/gyeonggi-govt-kepco-sign-mou-to-build-underground-power-grid-for-sk-hynixs-chip-fab/12237629?ref=sotkn.com) — 2.83 GW for the first two fabs, 27 km underground line, water plan. 4. SK hynix Newsroom, New Facility Investment for Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, 25 Feb 2026\. [news.skhynix.com](https://news.skhynix.com/en/new-facility-investment-for-yongin-semiconductor-cluster/?ref=sotkn.com) — first Yongin fab spend and February 2027 clean room. 5. Seoul Economic Daily, Samsung, SK hynix Reject KEPCO's 25 Trillion Won Prepayment Plan, 14 Sep 2026\. [en.sedaily.com](https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/09/14/samsung-sk-hynix-reject-kepcos-25-trillion-won-prepayment?ref=sotkn.com) — prepayment refusal, KEPCO debt and interest, bond waiver. 6. The Korea Herald, Why Kepco wants five years of chipmakers' power bills upfront, 13 Sep 2026\. [koreaherald.com](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10870310?ref=sotkn.com) — power bills by company, grid plan size, bond ceiling, tariffs. 7. The Herald Business, Okgye industrial complex confirmed as site for Gangneung's 400 MW AI data center, 2 Oct 2026\. [biz.heraldcorp.com](https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10892198?ref=sotkn.com) — 1 GW plan cut to a 400 MW first phase. 8. Seoul Economic Daily, Korean Power Equipment Booms as HD Hyundai Electric Wins 2 Trillion Won in New Orders, 28 Jul 2026\. [en.sedaily.com](https://en.sedaily.com/finance/2026/07/28/hd-hyundai-electric-q2-operating-profit-jumps-373-percent?ref=sotkn.com) — transformer orders, backlog, margin. 9. Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, September Exports Reach Record $120.9 Billion, 1 Oct 2026\. [english.motir.go.kr](https://english.motir.go.kr/eng/article/EATCLdfa319ada/2743/view?ref=sotkn.com) — chip exports and chipmaking equipment imports. 10. Aju Press, KEPCO official urges proactive grid buildout as AI power demand surges, 29 Apr 2026\. [ajupress.com](https://www.ajupress.com/view/20260429172570601?ref=sotkn.com) — 345-kilovolt lines take about 13 years; data centres two to three.