Seoul – South Korea has said it wants to establish a new semiconductor hub in its southwest within four years, but local opposition to the project’s massive power and water needs is set to be among its biggest obstacles.

The so-called Honam semiconductor industrial complex, estimated to cost at least 800 trillion won ($540 billion), is central to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s push to spread the gains of the AI chip boom beyond ​the prosperous Seoul metropolitan area.

However, companies involved in the plan such as Samsung Electronics will need to find new energy sources to ‌power ‌the project, with a goal to establish it by the end of Lee’s term in 2030.