Naver said on the 21st that it will sign a direct renewable energy power purchase agreement (PPA) with GS Wind Power and acquire 30% equity in the power plant that will supply the electricity.
The wind power complex being built in Yeongyang County, North Gyeongsang Province, is scheduled to begin commercial operation in the first half of 2028, after which it will supply about 180 GWh of electricity annually to Naver's Data Center GAK Sejong, GAK Chuncheon, and other sites.
This deal is the first case in which a domestic RE100 member corporations has invested directly in a renewable energy generation entity to secure electricity, and the supply volume is the largest under a domestic onshore wind direct PPA. Naver expects this to enable it to convert about 46% of its total power use to renewable energy in 2029.
This deal is meaningful in that it goes beyond a simple power purchase to preemptively secure a stable power source. With data center electricity demand rising rapidly due to the expansion of AI and cloud, Naver also invested in generation project equity to build a long-term procurement structure.
Earlier, Naver applied a direct-trade PPA with the Yongdam 2 hydropower plant to 1784, covering about 78% of its annual electricity use with renewable energy, and recorded a 6.8% overall renewable energy conversion rate in 2024. The industry views this wind deal as both accelerating Naver's RE100 implementation and serving as a case that advances domestic corporations' renewable energy procurement model by one step.
Im Dong-a, Naver's head of External and ESG Policy, said, "As data center electricity demand is rising rapidly with the expansion of AI and cloud, securing renewable energy is an essential task," adding, "Through a new model of direct investment in a generation entity, we will strengthen energy supply and demand stability and continue efforts to achieve our 2040 carbon-negative goal."