By Megan Cheah
Private-equity firm KKR and South Korea's SK Inc. are jointly launching a $1.3 billion renewable-energy platform aimed at meeting surging demand for clean power in AI data centers and semiconductor manufacturing.
The platform's assets, consolidated from SK affiliates, cut across solar, onshore and offshore wind and fuel cells, covering key areas of renewable energy generation except hydrogen, KKR and SK Inc., said Wednesday. SK Inc. is the holding company of SK Group, a massive South Korean conglomerate.
The platform, said to be Korea's largest for renewable energy, will have around 1.7 gigawatts of capacity currently in operation and a development pipeline that would raise its total capacity to 10 gigawatts.
"Korea is one of Asia's most attractive renewable-energy markets, underpinned by strong corporate demand for clean power from the semiconductor, data center, and manufacturing sectors," said KKR partner Keith Kim. The new platform would eventually be capable of powering 100 large-scale, 100 megawatt-class data centers and is well-placed to be a reliable source of power for South Korea's most-demanding industrial users, the statement added.
New York-based KKR has invested more than $31 billion into the energy transition and renewable infrastructure since 2011. This investment is part of its Asia Pacific infrastructure strategy.
Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com