AI data center demand drives push into US renewable energy
Qcells, the solar and energy storage arm of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, will handle all engineering, procurement, and construction work for the Atlas Energy Park, a sprawling complex that the company described as one of the largest renewable energy installations in the United States. The complex will consist of 14 separate solar and energy storage projects covering an area roughly 22 times the size of Yeouido, Seoul’s main financial district.
The company will supply all solar modules for the project. Qcells completed the sale in May of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 357 megawatts after carrying out their early-stage development and construction, a transaction the company cited as evidence of its expansion beyond equipment supply into full project development, construction, and asset sales.
Qcells operates Solar Hub, a solar manufacturing complex in Georgia, which gives it a domestic module supply chain. Industry analysts said companies with U.S. production bases are gaining a stronger advantage as Washington expands policies favoring domestically made equipment.
Chris Hodrick, head of Qcells’ EPC business division, said in a statement that the Atlas Energy Park “is a symbolic project that once again demonstrates Qcells’ EPC capability, U.S. supply chain and comprehensive business capacity from development to construction and asset sales.” Hodrick added that the company aims to “lead the growth of the North American renewable energy market by increasing customer value and business competitiveness through integrated solutions that combine solar power and energy storage.”
Analysts said the deal reflects a structural shift in U.S. power demand. “Power demand is structurally increasing because of AI data centers, electrification and manufacturing reshoring, making solar power and energy storage key pillars of global power infrastructure,” said Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. “In particular, rising power consumption by AI data centers will continue to increase demand for large-scale projects combining solar power and energy storage.”
Hana Securities projected Hanwha Solutions’ second-quarter operating profit this year at 230.7 billion won, about $153 million, roughly 29% above market consensus. Yoon Jae-sung, an analyst at Hana Securities, said “the oversupply of solar modules in the United States is easing, and prices are continuing to rise, while the expansion of local production capacity in the United States will drive earnings improvement.”
Qcells has completed or is pursuing more than 11 gigawatts of solar and more than 6 gigawatt-hours of energy storage projects in North America, expanding its local business base. The company said it plans to pursue various forms of renewable energy EPC business across the United States to meet surging power demand driven by the proliferation of AI data centers.