SK Ecoplant Partners with China's Largest Data Center Company GDS to Enter Southeast Asian Market

Park Kyung-il, President of SK Ecoplant (left), and William Wei Huang, Chairman of GDS, are holding the agreement and posing for a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] SK ecoplant announced on the 22nd that it signed an agreement on the 19th with GDS, China’s largest data center development and operation company, to jointly develop a ‘fuel cell-linked data center business.’

The signing ceremony held at SK ecoplant’s Susong headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was attended by Park Kyung-il, President of SK ecoplant, and William Wei Huang, Chairman of GDS, among others.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Shanghai, GDS is China’s largest data center development and operation company. It is listed on the Nasdaq and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and holds more than a 20% market share in China. In major regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, it holds a market share exceeding 30%. GDS has over 700 clients, including Chinese global companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, as well as global companies like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Morgan Stanley.

Under this agreement, the two companies plan to pioneer the data center market in Southeast Asia and build data centers equipped with eco-friendly power supply solutions based on fuel cells.

The business development will be jointly promoted by both companies, with SK ecoplant providing fuel cells and EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) services including eco-friendly power supply solutions, while GDS will be responsible for data center operations.

Through this agreement, SK ecoplant plans to establish data center power supply solutions as a new business model in the fuel cell sector and significantly expand its business scope beyond the existing power generation market to commercial markets such as data centers and cold storage warehouses.

Park Kyung-il, President of SK ecoplant, said, “We expect that strategic cooperation with GDS, China’s number one data center company, will serve as a cornerstone for expanding the fuel cell business area and advancing overseas.” He added, “We will secure a leading position in the global fuel cell market through continuous business model development and collaboration with top-tier companies.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.