韩国数据中心电网影响评估出现大规模待确认供电容量

While the government has made the dispersal of AI data centers to non-metropolitan areas a core policy, a significant bottleneck has emerged in the power grid impact assessment, the first gateway to building regional data centers. Within the industry, there are voices calling for the assessment system to be improved to further boost the regional spread of data centers.
According to the Korea Electric Power Corporation's (KEPCO) nationwide data center power grid impact assessment application status on the 3rd, the volume for which power supply availability had not been confirmed totaled 9,583 megawatts (㎿) as of the end of March this year. During the same period, cumulative applied power stood at 63,846㎿, of which results had been issued for only 54,263㎿. Of these, the power volume determined as available for supply was 32,949㎿ (60.7%), while the remaining 21,314㎿ (39.3%) received a judgment of supply-unavailable.
The power grid impact assessment began trial operation in August 2024 under the Special Act on the Promotion of Distributed Energy (hereinafter the Distributed Energy Act), enacted in 2024, to disperse power demand to regional areas and secure the stability of the power grid network. Data center operators seeking to use 10㎿ or more of electricity must undergo the relevant technical, non-technical, and policy assessments. According to the special act, KEPCO must complete its review and notify the applying operator of the results within a maximum of 90 days from the date of receiving the power grid impact assessment report.
The delays in assessment are presumed to stem from a sharp increase in non-metropolitan data center applications driven by the government's regional dispersal policy.
Indeed, the ratio of results not yet notified was higher for non-metropolitan area data centers than for those in the metropolitan area. In the metropolitan area, including Seoul, South Seoul, Incheon, northern Gyeonggi, and Gyeonggi, results had been notified for 33,591㎿ out of 38,911㎿ applied. The ratio of unissued results was 13.7%. By contrast, in non-metropolitan areas from Gangwon to Jeju, results had been issued for 20,672㎿ out of 24,935㎿ received, with an unnotified ratio of 17.1%, higher than the metropolitan area.
In particular, North Gyeongsang applied for 1,030㎿, but results had been issued for only 420㎿. The unnotified ratio reached 59%. In Busan and Ulsan, assessment results had not yet been issued for 1,048㎿ out of 5,997㎿. In North Chungcheong, 700㎿ out of 2,800㎿ remained pending. By contrast, the unnotified ratios in Seoul and Incheon were 0% and approximately 4%, respectively.
Regarding this, KEPCO maintains that the difference in result notification rates by region does not signify assessment delays. "In the case of North Gyeongsang, there has been an effect of applications concentrating recently," a KEPCO official said. "The difference in notification rates simply arises depending on the timing of applications; reviews are not being delayed by region."
By contrast, the industry argues that the power grid impact assessment is becoming an obstacle to pursuing data center projects. The National Assembly Research Service also pointed out in its "2025 State Audit Issue Analysis" report that the assessment standards for the power grid impact assessment are unclear and the cost burden is high, which could hinder the regional dispersal of data centers.
Experts stressed the need to improve the parts where the current timing for applying for the power grid impact assessment does not match the realities of pursuing projects.
"Data center projects typically involve first confirming whether power supply is available, then concretizing the business plan based on that, and proceeding with design, attracting investment, and securing tenant companies," a domestic data center operator lamented. "But currently, one must first have a considerable level of business plan in place just to apply for the power grid impact assessment, meaning excessive cost and time must be invested from the early stage before business viability has even been verified."