Hyundai Engineering Wins Contract for Gunsan AI Data Center; Construction to Begin in October

[Financial News] Hyundai Engineering is making a full-scale push into the data center market after winning a contract to build an AI data center in Gunsan.
Hyundai Engineering announced on the 28th that it had won the contract for the Gunsan SGC AI Data Center construction project. 
The project will build a 60-megawatt-class AI data center on an 115,702-square-meter site in the Bieungdo-dong area of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province. The total project value is approximately KRW 870 billion, and construction is scheduled to begin in October.
Hyundai Engineering is moving to expand its business following this contract win. The company has been selected as the preferred negotiating bidder for data center projects currently being pursued in Incheon and Gumi, with contracts targeted for completion this year. As a result, it expects the value of its data center contracts this year alone to reach approximately KRW 1.9 trillion.
The Gunsan project is the first phase of an AI data center cluster construction project with a total capacity of 300 megawatts being pursued by SGC Group. Hyundai Engineering expects that carrying out this project will enable it to secure preferred negotiating rights for a planned 240-megawatt project. In the first phase, the company will handle architectural, civil engineering, plant, landscaping, and communications work. For the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) work, which covers the data center's core systems, it will be responsible for cooling and power equipment, including cooling towers, chillers, and switchgear.
The data center is scheduled to adopt NVIDIA's next-generation AI semiconductor, the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform. As next-generation semiconductors significantly increase power density per rack and heat generation, the ability to build power and cooling infrastructure capable of reliably supporting them is critical. Vertiv's Modular and Skid Solutions will also be deployed. Under this approach, power and cooling equipment is prefabricated at a factory and then assembled and installed on-site, which helps standardize quality and shorten the construction period.
Hyundai Engineering explained that its expertise in building large-scale power and mechanical systems, developed through construction of major industrial facilities such as automobile production plants and electric vehicle battery factories, has become a competitive advantage in the data center business. The company plans to expand beyond simple construction into operations, maintenance, and investment participation. It also intends to develop data center energy procurement models linked to next-generation energy sources, including renewable energy such as solar power, small modular reactors (SMRs), and hydrogen.
A Hyundai Engineering official said, "In the data center industry, superior infrastructure directly translates into reliable digital service competitiveness." The official added, "We will use our best technologies to build data centers equipped with the reliable power supply infrastructure and operating environments required in the AI era."

[email protected] Jung Kyung-soo Reporter