TVA Clears 230 MW Power Supply for Korea Zinc's $7.4 Billion U.S. Smelter

The Tennessee Valley Authority's board has approved a 230-megawatt power supply for Korea Zinc's planned $7.4 billion critical minerals smelter in Tennessee, locking in the project's core infrastructure requirement on top of a completed federal environmental review.

Korea Zinc (KRX: 010130) said on the 15th that TVA's board approved the power request from its subsidiary Crucible Zinc on the 10th local time. The TVA board governs the federally owned utility that supplies power across the Tennessee Valley region.

The approval settles what does this change for the venture: the grid connection, a core piece of infrastructure, is now secured, and the project clears its final environmental assessment from the U.S. federal government. Both milestones give the venture added momentum.

How the power deal works

Under the board's approval, TVA will begin supplying 230 megawatts of contracted capacity from 2029. That timing aligns with Korea Zinc's production schedule: the company plans to break ground in 2027 and begin commercial production of some products from 2029.

The price terms matter for a smelter's operating economics. According to Korea Zinc, TVA draws on a mix of nuclear, hydroelectric and natural gas generation to supply industrial power at rates below what 90% of the customers of the top 100 U.S. utilities pay.

The diplomacy behind the approval

Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yoon-birm met TVA board Chairman Mitch Graves in May to request cooperation on two fronts: securing initial power demand for the smelter and ensuring stable operations.

Graves said at the time that TVA would work to avoid any disruption in power supply. He called Project Crucible an important undertaking for both Tennessee and the federal government.

What the smelter will produce

Project Crucible is an integrated critical minerals smelter that Korea Zinc is pursuing with $7.4 billion in investment alongside the U.S. government and other partners. The company will draw on more than 50 years of smelting technology and operating expertise accumulated at its Onsan smelter in Ulsan, South Korea, to build and directly operate the large integrated facility in Tennessee.

The plant's output targets:

• 12 non-ferrous metals in total
• 11 of those minerals designated as critical by the U.S. government (a federal list of materials deemed strategically important for supply-chain security)
• Sulfuric acid for semiconductors

The critical-minerals designation places the project squarely within U.S. policy efforts to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains for strategically important materials.

What comes next

Korea Zinc plans to accelerate preparation work ahead of the 2027 groundbreaking. The 2029 date for both power supply and initial commercial production leaves the company roughly two years of construction before first output.

"This power approval sets the stage for stable operations at the Tennessee smelter," a Korea Zinc official said. "We will accelerate preparations to break ground while working closely with the U.S. government and local agencies to complete Project Crucible successfully."

The sequencing now stands: environmental clearance done, power contracted, groundbreaking set for 2027, first commercial production targeted for 2029. Korea Zinc's remaining task is execution, in coordination with federal and local agencies, on one of the largest Korean industrial investments on U.S. soil.