KKR and SK Inc. are combining renewable energy assets into what the companies say will be South Korea’s largest clean power platform, as investors continue to pour capital into infrastructure needed to support the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.
The partners said on Wednesday that they signed definitive agreements to establish a renewable energy platform valued at 2 trillion won ($1.3 billion). The venture will consolidate solar, onshore and offshore wind, and fuel cell assets previously held by SK affiliates, including SK Innovation, SK ecoplant, and SK eternix.
The platform will begin with about 1.7 gigawatts of operating renewable energy capacity and a development pipeline that could increase total capacity to 10 gigawatts, positioning it as a key supplier of clean electricity to South Korea’s expanding network of AI data centres, semiconductor fabrication plants, and other large industrial users.
KKR will have management control of the platform in its initial phase, while SK will remain an equity investor with the option to increase its involvement over time.
The transaction is KKR’s latest bet on Asia’s energy transition, an investment theme that has accelerated alongside soaring electricity demand from AI infrastructure. The firm said it has invested more than $31 billion in renewable energy and energy transition infrastructure globally since 2011 through projects including Serentica Renewables in India, and CleanPeak Energy and Zenith Energy in Australia.
The partnership comes as South Korea seeks to expand renewable power generation to meet growing corporate demand for low-carbon electricity driven by AI, cloud computing, and advanced manufacturing.
