An air-conditioning equipment production line for AI data centres will be built at Samsung Electronics' Gwangju site. Samsung Electronics, FlaktGroup Korea and the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special Zone said on Aug. 19 they signed an investment agreement to build the production plant. Samsung plans to invest about 240 billion won to build an air-conditioning production line with a total floor area of 21,800 square metres at its third campus in Buk-gu, Gwangju, and begin operations in early 2028.

The investment is a large-scale facility investment for the first time in 37 years since the Gwangju site was established in 1989. The production line will be incorporated as FlaktGroup's 15th global production facility.

The main product of the new line will be a coolant distribution unit (CDU), a key piece of equipment for liquid cooling systems for AI data centres. The CDU precisely controls the pressure and temperature of cooling water and filters out impurities between chillers, which are building cooling facilities, and cold plates that directly cool servers. It will also produce fan wall units (FWU), computer room air handling units (CRAH) and air handling units (AHU) for large buildings.

FlaktGroup, a global HVAC specialist, operates 14 production lines and 8 research centres in the United States, Europe and Asia. After acquiring the company last year, Samsung Electronics has been pushing to supply solutions that combine Flakt's central air-conditioning technology with its B2B control platform, SmartThings Pro, and its building integrated solution, b.IoT.

Kim Cheol-gi (김철기), head of Samsung Electronics' DA division and a vice president, said, "Samsung Electronics will rapidly expand its HVAC business, a future growth engine, and emerge as a leading company in the global market." He added, "Building this Gwangju production line will be an important foundation for securing differentiated competitiveness in the HVAC business."