Three-way agreement also includes BKB Energy.
Changhae Development has signed an agreement memorandum (MOA) with TurboScale and BKB Energy for the supply of GPUs at its upcoming data center in Busan, South Korea.
The agreement will see TurboScale, a San Francisco, California-based AI model developer and GPU cloud provider, supplying Changhae Development with 50,000 of Nvidia's "latest GPUs," reports Maeil Business Newspaper.
The GPUs will be the latest available generation at the point of deployment, with the data center set to start operating in the first half of 2028.
The data center has been in the works since 2020, with Changhae Development working with Singaporean fund CCGI to build a 13-floor facility at the current Mastec Heavy Industries site in Daepyeong-dong, Yeongdo-gu, Busan.
The data center will have five floors underground, and seven above ground, as has 80MW contracted with Korea Electric Power Corporation. According to Changhae Development, discussions are currently underway to raise this to 120MW to support the scale of GPU deployment.
Construction of the project is set to begin this year and be completed in the first half of 2028.
The data center will additionally be cooled by low-temperature marine water near Yeongo.
Kim Yong-hui, CEO of Changhae Development, said, "We were able to sign a GPU supply contract with TurboScale because Yeongdo AI Data Center is a place that is complete with all RE100-related eco-friendliness (ESG) factors such as related licensing, power supply contracts, and the use of deep ocean water in Korea, which is emerging as a center of global AI. Busan is also the best place to attract global tenants."
The majority of South Korea's data center market is located around Seoul, on the other side of the country from Busan. Despite this, Busan is the country's hub and gateway for subsea cable landings, connecting South Korea to Asia, Europe, and the US.
Microsoft has a cloud region in Busan, having launched its second data center in the area in November 2024. In nearby Ulsan, Amazon Web Services and SK Group are partnering on an AI data center that will house 60,000 GPUs.
