Naver said on Tuesday it has acquired a 30 percent stake in GS Wind Power’s wind farm and signed a direct renewable power purchase agreement (PPA).

The agreement is the first case in South Korea in which a RE100 member invests directly in a renewable power generation company to secure energy. Naver signed a 25-year direct PPA with GS Wind Power.

The wind farm under construction by GS in Yeongyang, North Gyeongsang Province, will produce 180 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity a year. It plans to supply power to Naver’s Sejong and Chuncheon data centres, Gak Sejong and Gak Chuncheon, after commercial operations begin in the first half of 2028. This will raise the renewable energy conversion rate to 46 percent of total power use as of 2029.

Naver secured a long-term, stable power supply through direct investment in the power generation company. It removed greenhouse gas emissions and additional investment constraints stemming from fossil fuel-based power procurement, creating an environment in which it can invest. It will also ease the concentration of power in the Seoul metropolitan area by using renewable energy directly at data centres outside the region.

Naver previously declared '2040 carbon negative' in 2020. It pursued a shift to renewable energy through three direct PPA deals covering solar power and small hydropower. Through a large-scale wind PPA deal, it will procure renewable energy for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud data centres.

Lim Dong-a (임동아), Naver’s external affairs and ESG policy leader, said rising data centre power demand from the expansion of AI and cloud services makes securing renewable energy an essential task. He said Naver will continue to pursue its 2040 carbon negative goal through a model of direct investment in power generation companies.