LG Electronics signs AIR chiller supply deal for projects exceeding 5GW

A new chiller supply agreement is intended to support North American AI data centre projects exceeding 5 gigawatts of capacity, with no purchase value disclosed. LG Electronics Inc. KRX066570, the South Korean maker of appliances and industrial cooling systems, said on Oct. 5 that its U.S. business had signed the agreement with AIR Control Concepts. AIR, a Norfolk, Va., network of HVAC, electrical, service and controls businesses, will work with LG on chillers for projects in the United States and Canada.

The announcement describes a multiyear supply program but gives no chiller count, committed purchase minimum, unit price or delivery timetable. It also does not name the data centre operators or locations behind the more than 5 gigawatts. For LG shareholders, the disclosed figure measures the size of projects the equipment is meant to support; it is neither a chiller order value nor revenue booked under the agreement.

LG's share observation on Google Finance was dated Oct. 2. On its KRX066570 page, Google Finance listed LG shares at ₩216,000 as of 3:30 p.m. KST that day. It cannot measure a reaction to the Oct. 5 agreement. The company has given investors a commercial relationship to assess, but no disclosed sales amount against which to compare that earlier share price.

LG said on Oct. 1 that its first U.S. chiller factory, in Windsor, Va., is scheduled to start production in the first half of 2027. The Oct. 5 AIR announcement does not say that the new plant will make AIR's equipment or that any AIR deliveries begin when production starts.

Five Gigawatts Measures Projects, Not Chiller Output

LG's Oct. 5 release says it will supply advanced chillers to support data centre projects exceeding 5 gigawatts of combined capacity. That figure measures the underlying projects, not a stated cooling load or a firm order for 5 gigawatts of chillers. The release also calls AIR a supplier to major data centre operators without identifying a customer whose project has reached construction or procurement. No single site, customer contract or installation schedule is disclosed to match the headline capacity.

LG separately describes an air-cooled centrifugal chiller that uses outdoor air to reduce compressor work through refrigerant free-cooling. The Oct. 5 release does not identify that model as equipment committed under the AIR agreement. It reports an internal simulation of a 1,750-kilowatt model under Seoul-area weather conditions, rather than a measured result at a North American site. LG says actual electricity use can vary with installation and operating conditions, so the simulation does not establish savings for AIR's eventual customers.

"Together with LG, we're building the technology, manufacturing capacity and support infrastructure to meet that need," AIR president Hayden Bland said in the Oct. 5 release.

Virginia Production Is Scheduled for 2027

LG's Oct. 1 factory announcement put the Windsor facility alongside expansions of chiller production in Pyeongtaek and Changwon, South Korea. LG plans to invest a combined KRW 150 billion across the three sites. The company did not assign any portion of that spending to the AIR agreement, so the factory budget cannot stand in for the deal's undisclosed price.

The Windsor plant is planned for air-cooled chillers, while LG's broader cooling line also includes coolant distribution units and cold plates for direct-to-chip systems. The Oct. 1 announcement gives the U.S. factory a first-half 2027 production target, but not an AIR-specific manufacturing allocation. A supply relationship across North America leaves the location and timing of each customer installation to be established separately.

An earlier Mugglehead report on Muskie power service tracked an electricity agreement in the same North American buildout. LG's agreement concerns cooling procurement, for which it has provided no installation dates or payment schedule. Power capacity and cooling-equipment orders need separate measures before either can be translated into revenue.

Read more: TeraWulf doubles Muskie power agreement to 1 GW, plans 2029 delivery

LG Has Not Disclosed AIR Deal Value

LG says in its Oct. 5 release that first-half 2026 orders for data centre cooling exceeded US$428 million. It expects orders to reach several billion dollars by the end of 2026, but does not specify how much, if any, of that forecast is tied to AIR. An order is also different from revenue recognized after equipment is delivered, and the new agreement supplies no schedule for that step.

The company also says it expects to reach a roughly KRW 1 trillion chiller-business revenue target originally set for 2027 ahead of schedule. That is a companywide chiller goal, not an AIR contract value. The next dated operational test is the first half of 2027, when LG plans to start production at Windsor; investors still need AIR-specific volumes, prices and delivery dates to measure what this agreement contributes.