As construction of natural gas power plants increases worldwide, a shortage of gas turbines—the core equipment—is worsening. It is drawing attention because it could affect power supply plans for the semiconductor clusters to be built in Yongin and Gwangju.
According to the energy industry on the 10th, the power needed for the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster that Samsung Electronics is building in Yongin is 10 gigawatts (GW). Of that, 3 GW will be supplied by building six liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants by 2038.
The power required for the SuNAM region semiconductor cluster, which has been sited in Gwangju, is 6.3 GW, and the industry expects that some of it will likewise be covered by LNG power.
If gas turbines—key components of natural gas power plants—are ordered from major suppliers of large turbines of 300 megawatts (MW) or more, such as U.S.-based GE Vernova, Germany's Siemens Energy, and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it currently takes at least five years for delivery.
The delivery time at Doosan Enerbility, the only domestic gas turbine supplier, is somewhat shorter, but it still takes considerable time. An energy industry official said, "In the gas turbine market these days, suppliers, not clients, are in the driver's seat," and added, "Supply is not keeping up with demand."
Soaring construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers is a major factor driving excess demand for gas turbines. Data centers need stable power around the clock. As a result, there is a trend, centered on the United States, to build natural gas power plants inside data centers to supply electricity.
For example, Meta decided to build seven new natural gas power plants with a total capacity of 5.2 GW to run the "Hyperion" data center under construction in Richland Parish, Louisiana. Hyperion's power consumption is about 5 GW.
In addition, demand has grown for natural gas power plants as backup power to offset the intermittency of expanding renewable energy. Concerns about environmental pollution have also increased interest in natural gas power plants, which emit less carbon than coal-fired power.
According to Reuters, plans for new natural gas power plants in the United States have surged over the past year. Since early 2025, capacity under construction has reached about 30 GW, more than double the previous year.
Meanwhile, the gas turbine supply capacity of major corporations is insufficient to meet demand. According to Sweden-based asset manager Coeli, new global orders for large gas turbines total between 88 GW and 100 GW.
However, the production capacity of major gas turbine manufacturers is 50 GW to 60 GW per year (GE Vernova 20 GW, Siemens Energy 15 GW, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 12 GW, Doosan Enerbility 3 GW, etc.). In other words, about 40% of market demand is short of supply.
GE Vernova, the world's No. 1 gas turbine supplier, said at its first-quarter earnings release on Apr. that its gas turbine order backlog surpassed 100 GW, and that it is shipping about 25 gas turbines per quarter. Scott Strazik, GE Vernova's chief executive officer (CEO), said, "We have only 10 GW of production lines left through 2030," and "We are currently contracting deliveries for after 2031."
As such, more corporations are expanding production facilities. Hiroshi Nishio, chief financial officer (CFO) of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, said in an interview with Japan's Nikkei on the 28th of last month, "We plan to double large gas turbine production capacity by 2030 compared with 2024," and "We will invest more than $618 million in plants in Japan and the United States." As of the 2025 fiscal year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has a backlog of 74 units.
In Jan. last year, GE Vernova announced it would invest a total of $600 million to strengthen manufacturing capability in the United States. Of that, more than $160 million will go into its Greenville, South Carolina, plant, a core base for gas turbines. Through this, it plans to expand large gas turbine capacity by 25% from current levels to 24 GW per year.
In Feb., Siemens Energy also announced a $1 billion investment to expand gas turbine manufacturing facilities at its Charlotte, North Carolina, plant. Doosan Enerbility plans to increase annual large gas turbine production capacity from the current eight units to 12 units by 2028. Since 2019, Doosan Enerbility has won orders for a total of 23 gas turbines, including 12 in the United States.
◇ concerns about impact on semiconductor clusters
Some believe that if the gas turbine shortage persists for a long time, it could affect the semiconductor clusters.
The Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster that Samsung Electronics is building in Yongin was initially scheduled to begin operations in 2038, but the government released plans to create the SuNAM region semiconductor cluster and also said it would move up the start of operations for the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster.
Of the 10 GW of power needed for the Yongin Advanced System Semiconductor Cluster, the government had planned to supply 3 GW through LNG power by 2038, but it now needs to move up that timeline as well.
The same goes for the SuNAM region. Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and head of the semiconductor (DS) division at Samsung Electronics, said at the SuNAM region advanced industry investment plan briefing held in Gwangju on the 30th of last month to President Lee Jae-myung and other government officials, "Please actively pursue the expansion of nuclear power plants and power purchase agreements (PPAs) to offset the intermittency of renewable energy, and we ask for your support in pursuing LNG combined heat and power generation."
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment believes the SuNAM region semiconductor cluster, which will house four fabs by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, will need 6.3 GW of electricity. According to the Korea Power Exchange, the renewable energy installed capacity in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju is 7.2 GW and 0.44 GW, respectively. By contrast, gas turbine capacity is only 1.5 GW in South Jeolla and 0.08 GW in Gwangju. Energy experts say that even if renewable energy use increases, additional nuclear or LNG power plants must be built to meet the required power.
An energy industry official said, "Stable power supply and demand are crucial for semiconductor processes, so nuclear and LNG power are more suitable than renewable energy," and added, "The key is whether the 12th Basic Plan for Long-term Electricity Supply and Demand will include this."