HD Hyundai Electric seals $721 million deal with Big Tech to power North America data center

HD Hyundai Electric has inked a $721.3 million deal with an undisclosed global technology company to supply switchgear and power equipment for a data center.

The equipment will be delivered in phases through 2028 to a data center the customer is building in North America, the company said on Thursday. 

HD Hyundai Electric said the contract is meaningful for combining switchgear and power equipment into a single package. The detailed breakdown is 553.9 billion won ($356 million) for switchgear and 567.3 billion won for power equipment.

Power supply is essential for data centers that run on high performance servers and networking equipment that process and store vast amounts of data around the clock. Enormous amounts of electricity are also required to run the cooling systems that keep the equipment from overheating.

Supplying the two key components from a single developer allows for "greater design consistency across a facility's power infrastructure, while reducing risks tied to delivery schedules, quality control and after-sales service," said HD Hyundai Electric in a press release.

The International Energy Agency projects that global electricity consumption by data centers will more than double, from 415 terawatt-hours in 2024 to 945 terawatt-hours by 2030.

Particularly in the United States, data centers are expected to account for roughly half of the growth in overall electricity demand through 2030.

BY SARAH CHEA   [[email protected]]