On the 26th, Korea Electric Power Corporation announced the development of the world's first 'Intelligent Digital Power Plant' (IDPP) operating system that applies big data analysis and prediction engine for power generation.
This technology can process more than millions of sensor data per second, making its processing speed approximately 250 times faster than overseas commercial solutions. Additionally, the license maintenance expense has been reduced to about half compared to overseas commercial products.
Through joint development with five power generation companies, KEPCO applied IDPP to facilities with a capacity of 7.3 gigawatts (GW), resulting in an improvement in power generation efficiency of 0.29%.
The IDPP introduced by KEPCO is a platform that collects and analyzes data from tens of thousands of sensors within power plants in real time to predict and diagnose equipment conditions. Since 2017, it has undergone joint research and verification with five power companies to ensure reliability.
While existing overseas solutions focused on data storage and preservation, IDPP integrates data cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) applications to enable field-specific utilization and real-time response.
The core technologies include ▲ processing speed more than 250 times faster ▲ optimized data provided for AI analysis ▲ 'tag structuring' to standardize sensor rules for each power plant ▲ data extraction functionality without manual work. Through this, even non-experts can immediately utilize data, ensuring compatibility among power plants.
KEPCO developed an engine capable of real-time distributed processing of large-scale power generation data for the first time in the world and secured five patents. It also verified a 0% data omission rate.
The economic effects are evident. KEPCO saved about 64 billion won in electricity purchase costs by preventing power generation equipment failures. Power companies applying IDPP also predicted and blocked equipment failures in advance, saving about 8.99 billion won in maintenance expenses.
Currently, 9.4 billion (85GB) data points are being processed daily across 28 facilities belonging to five power companies.
Southern Power Corporation is expanding the application scope to all 15 units and operating its own AI learning organization. Western Power is promoting entrepreneurship and industry-academic cooperation by opening power generation data to the public, while Southeast Power has also organized a dedicated team for operational innovation.
Overseas expansion is also gaining momentum. KEPCO plans to install IDPP at three local power plants next year in collaboration with the Vietnam Electricity Corporation's subsidiary, GENCO3.
Following this, it has been decided to advance an annual subscription-based business model focusing on Southeast Asian markets such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. In the long term, there are plans to target the Middle Eastern market as well. The company expects about 4.6 trillion won in global results over the next five years.
In Korea, it is expected that applying IDPP across all five power companies will result in about 320 billion won in savings over five years, and if it replaces existing foreign solutions, the reduction in maintenance license expenses is anticipated to reach 192.4 billion won.
The market outlook is also bright. The global big data solution market is expected to grow to about 561 trillion won by 2030. The digitalization market in the energy industry is also estimated to expand to about 8.5 trillion won this year.
A KEPCO official said, 'IDPP is a next-generation platform that can secure both power generation efficiency and stability,' adding, 'We will strengthen our global competitiveness through expansion in domestic and international markets.'