LG Electronics is collaborating with Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) to implement next-generation tidal power plants based on artificial intelligence (AI). The partnership aims to enhance the AI-based operation and digital transformation of the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant by leveraging LG's expertise in smart factory technologies, including Physical AI and digital twins.
On October 22, LG Electronics announced that it signed a 'Technology Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of AI Tidal Power Plant at Sihwa Lake' with K-water at the Sihwa Tidal Cultural Center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. Executives from both companies, including Oh Bong-geun, head of K-water's Renewable Energy Division, and Lee Seung-ki, head of LG Electronics' Smart Factory Solution Center, attended the signing ceremony.
The collaboration will focus on several key areas: the implementation of AI tidal power plants and lighthouse factories, the application and demonstration of advanced technologies such as AI, digital twins, and robotics, joint responses to R&D and policy projects related to renewable energy and AI conversion, and cooperation in discovering overseas projects and entering international markets.
K-water's extensive experience and data in power plant operations, combined with LG Electronics' expertise in smart factory construction, will allow both companies to explore the potential application of AI technologies at the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant.
LG Electronics plans to promote collaboration on integrated operational systems based on digital twin technology, which will create a virtual representation of the entire tidal power plant. This system will integrate real-time data from power generation equipment and CCTV to manage the plant's status, predict power generation, validate operational scenarios, and diagnose equipment conditions.
Additionally, the companies will explore the application of specialized AI agents for tidal power plants using LG AI Research's EXAONE. These AI agents will support the analysis of power generation loss causes, detection of equipment anomalies, predictive maintenance, risk assessment, and optimization of inspection schedules based on a dashboard of operational status. By analyzing weather and sea level changes alongside equipment status and power generation data, the AI will propose optimal operational strategies and streamline repetitive tasks such as report writing.
The partnership will also involve collaboration in the field of Physical AI for automating on-site operations. This includes using multifunctional patrol robots and AI CCTV for facility inspections, equipment checks, monitoring hazardous areas, and enhancing safety management, thereby improving the operational safety of the power plant. Plans are also in place to automate tasks related to the storage, management, and supply of spare parts and material transportation using industrial robots.
This collaboration is significant as it marks LG Electronics' expansion of its smart factory solutions from traditional manufacturing and logistics into the energy and infrastructure sectors. Within just two years of launching the smart factory solutions business, LG has surpassed 1 trillion won in cumulative orders as of the first half of this year, indicating rapid growth. As the company intensifies its efforts to expand orders, the diversification into the public sector is expected to accelerate business growth.
Through this partnership with the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant, the world's largest tidal power facility by generation capacity, LG Electronics aims to validate the application of smart factory technologies in the energy and infrastructure sectors, using this collaboration as a reference to continuously expand its business into domestic and international energy infrastructure projects.
Lee Seung-ki, head of the Smart Factory Solution Center, stated, "It is significant that LG Electronics is applying its accumulated smart factory capabilities from manufacturing sites to the public infrastructure sector. We will support the digital transformation of the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant with K-water and enhance the efficiency and safety of power plant operations."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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