US and South Korea Announce Strategic Investment Agreement Worth Hundreds of Billions
The US and South Korea have announced a strategic investment agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The first project under this package is a $22.3 billion liquefied natural gas combined-cycle power plant in Texas, called Project Star. This facility will supply artificial intelligence data centers with energy and has a generating capacity of 6,472 megawatts.
The commercial operation of the first phase is targeted for 2029. The two countries have also agreed on a Korea-U.S. nuclear framework covering construction of eight large reactors in the US. At least two of them will use the APR1400, a Korean-designed reactor, and are part of Project Power.
The initiative aims to draw $120 billion from investment funds, with $100 billion allocated for construction costs and $20 billion for contingency reserves. The two sides also discussed paying up to $10 billion by the end of this year to secure long-lead equipment needed for reactor construction.