SEOUL, July 21 (Reuters) - South Korea has said it wants to establish a new semiconductor hub in its southwest within four years, but local opposition to the project's massive power and water needs is set to be among its biggest obstacles.
The so-called Honam semiconductor industrial complex, estimated to cost at least 800 trillion won ($540 billion), is central to President Lee Jae Myung's push to spread the gains of the AI chip boom beyond the prosperous Seoul metropolitan area.
However, companies involved in the project such as Samsung Electronics will need to find new energy sources to power the project, with a goal to establish it by the end of Lee's term in 2030.
Power demand from the four planned chip fabrication plants alone could equal 70% to 80% of the current annual electricity consumption in the country's southwestern regions of Gwangju, North Jeolla and South Jeolla, analysts say.
Local residents told Reuters they oppose plans to build new transmission lines or nuclear reactors, citing flaws in previous and current energy infrastructure they say failed to gain their approval.
Residents say they were also not consulted about plans to raise an existing dam to feed water to the project.
"A huge amount of new power demand is coming into a region that previously had little, and that's the core of the problem," said Neal Won, principal analyst at S&P Global Energy.
Without substantial and accelerated infrastructure expansion, experts say it will be challenging to operate the complex at capacity by 2030.
South Korea's energy ministry said the southwest region already has more power generation than local demand, so if new chip fabs are located there, much of the electricity could be produced within the region, reducing the need for additional long-distance transmission lines. It said it would work closely with local governments to build power infrastructure ahead of fab operations and improve public acceptance, including by placing lines underground in densely populated areas where possible.
Energy Minister Kim Sung-whan has also said they may consider building new nuclear reactors and small modular reactors.
INFRASTRUCTURE BOTTLENECKS
Chip cluster projects in Yongin, a city near Seoul, provide cautionary tales.
Samsung Electronics and rival SK Hynix have both been expanding their chip manufacturing capacity there but projects have encountered delays due to power and water issues.
Mayor Lee Sang-il said SK Hynix's first Yongin fabs, first announced in 2019, are supposed to receive 265,000 metric tons of water a day from a weir in another city, but opposition from residents there delayed the process by months and supplies of water and power from other regions could face similar objections.
"The responsibility to calm opposing voices and resolve differences lies with the central government," he said.
The government has said it plans to help Samsung and SK Hynix speed up construction in Yongin.
In Yeonggwang county in the southwest, Roh Byeong-nam, a farmer and co-chair of a local anti-nuclear coalition, said residents there would challenge any extension or expansion of nuclear reactors through litigation if needed.
"To now talk about new construction, on top of extending the lifespan of ageing reactors, is nothing less than a declaration that Yeonggwang will become a nuclear testing ground and eventually a permanent nuclear waste site," Roh said.
The water supply plan is equally complex. The environment ministry says the cluster needs about 650,000 metric tons of water a day, more than Gwangju's entire daily residential water supply.
Developers hope to avoid a new large dam by using reclaimed water as well as five dam systems, including raising one of the systems - Dongbok Dam - to secure an additional 250,000 metric tons a day.
Kim Kwang-jin, head of a dam-residents group near Dongbok, said residents want to be consulted.
"This is the same as dam construction," Kim said, estimating 1,500 to 1,600 households could be directly or indirectly affected. "They announced it unilaterally without considering resident acceptance."
The energy ministry said the dam-raising option would minimise environmental damage and relocation compared with constructing a new dam, and it will continue talks with Gwangju and local residents to prevent opposition or infrastructure issues from delaying the project.
($1 = 1,482.2000 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyeyoon Cho; Editing by Brenda Goh and Lincoln Feast.)
