Korea's 2 major chipmakers reject KEPCO's proposal to prepay 5 years of electricity bills
Korea's two major chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Inc., have rejected a proposal from state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) to prepay five years' worth of electricity bills, industry sources said Monday. Debt-ridden KEPCO recently proposed that Samsung Electronics pay 20 trillion won ($14.8 billion) and SK hynix pay 5 trillion won in advance, amounts equivalent to roughly five…
South Korea's two largest chip producers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Inc., have declined to accept Korea Electric Power Corp.'s (KEPCO) suggestion to prepay five years' worth of electricity bills, according to industry sources on Monday. Debt-stricken KEPCO had proposed Samsung Electronics pay 20 trillion won ($14.8 billion) and SK hynix pay 5 trillion won upfront, amounts roughly equivalent to five years of electricity costs based on the companies' payments from the previous year.
Following internal reviews, both chipmakers reportedly decided to reject KEPCO's proposal, citing difficulties in accepting such a significant amount of money without certainty on the ongoing AI boom in the semiconductor industry. Although the proposed prepayment scheme could have facilitated power infrastructure development for semiconductor facilities under construction in Yongin, south of Seoul, and South Korea's southwestern Honam region, the companies seem to have concerns about committing such a large sum upfront.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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