LG Electronics (066570) will upgrade infrastructure at South Korea's Sihwa Lake tidal power plant, the world's largest, by applying robotics and artificial intelligence. The company plans to improve generation efficiency with the new technology while using the expertise gained to expand its smart factory business beyond manufacturing and logistics clients into the energy sector.
LG Electronics said it signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation for an AI-powered tidal power plant at Sihwa Lake with Korea Water Resources Corporation on the 22nd at the Sihwa Tidal Culture Center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The two sides agreed to upgrade the Sihwa plant into an AI-powered, WEF-recognized "lighthouse" smart facility, applying digital twins and robots on site, and to cooperate on research and development, policy and overseas expansion.
Tidal power plants generate electricity using the difference between high and low tides. The Sihwa plant is the world's largest by generation capacity. LG Electronics will bring technology developed through its smart factory business, which automates plants using robots and AI, to the Sihwa plant to raise generation and operating efficiency.
The company will first use digital twin technology to replicate the entire plant in a virtual space, linking real-time data from generation equipment and closed-circuit television cameras to allow integrated management of plant conditions. That will enable forecasts of power output, validation of operating scenarios and diagnosis of equipment conditions.
The company is also considering developing an AI agent tailored to the tidal plant, based on Exaone, the proprietary AI model from LG AI Research. Built around a dashboard showing plant operations, the AI agent would support analysis of causes of output losses, detection of equipment anomalies, predictive maintenance, risk assessment and optimization of inspection schedules. It would analyze weather and sea-level changes together with equipment conditions and generation data to propose optimal operating plans, and could support decision-making by learning from data and technical documents accumulated during plant operations.
The two sides also agreed to cooperate on introducing physical AI technology, using multifunctional patrol robots and AI-equipped cameras to carry out facility patrols, equipment inspections, monitoring of hazardous areas and safety management. Industrial robots can also automate tasks such as storing, managing and supplying spare parts and transporting materials.
LG Electronics plans to use the partnership as a springboard to expand its smart factory business in earnest. The company supplies solutions that clients need to build smart factories. The deal gives it a foothold to take part in domestic and overseas energy infrastructure projects led by governments and large corporations, moving beyond its existing manufacturing and logistics clients.
"It is significant that LG Electronics is applying the smart factory capabilities it has built up on manufacturing floors to public infrastructure," said Lee Seung-ki, head of LG Electronics' Smart Factory Solution Center. "Together with Korea Water Resources Corporation, we will support the digital transformation of the Sihwa tidal power plant and continue to improve the plant's operating efficiency and safety."
