LS Cable breaks ground on $681 mil. submarine power cable plant in US

This graphic shows its submarine power cable plant to be built in the United States by the third quarter of 2027. Courtesy of LS Cable & System

LS Cable & System, Korea's largest cable manufacturer, said Tuesday it has broken ground on a 1 trillion-won ($681 million) submarine power cable plant in the United States.

It marks the first large-scale facility investment by a Korean company since the inauguration of President Donald Trump's administration in January.

The plant, located in Chesapeake, Virginia, is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2027, with operations set to begin in the first quarter of 2028, the company said in a press release.

The investment is aimed at "preemptively" responding to the U.S. supply chain reorganization strategy and meeting the growing demand for undersea power cables in the U.S., it said.

In 2024, electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in the U.S. was estimated to be equivalent to half of Korea's annual power demand of 62 gigawatts (GW). That figure is expected to more than triple to 120 GW by 2030, according to the company.