POSCO ICT, POSCO Energy Working Together on Smart Power Plants

POSCO ICT is building the first smart power plants in South Korea in cooperation with POSCO Energy.

Since last year, POSCO ICT has combined advanced information and communications technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and artificial intelligence (AI) with POSCO Energy’s LNG combined cycle power plants located in Incheon City and off-gas power plants located in Pohang and Gwangyang.

The purpose of the project is to set up a data-centered facility operation system. It will collect data related to generators, turbines, pumps and motors, such as their temperatures, pressures and vibrations, without delay and analyze them with big data for real-time equipment monitoring, abnormality detection and maintenance timing prediction. This is expected to minimize regular pauses for maintenance and contribute to power generation efficiency enhancement.

In addition, the new system maximizes power generation efficiency by providing optimum operation guidance for each facility. For example, it performs real-time analysis regarding factors affecting the operations of gas and steam turbines so that the guidance for the maximum efficiency can be provided.

POSCO ICT and POSCO Energy are accelerating the application of AI this year. The idea is to obtain the best operating conditions of each facility and utilize them by means of deep learning for the purpose of integrated facility management and power plant efficiency maximization.

“We are currently proceeding with various projects, including smart factory, smart building and city, and smart energy, based on the POSCO Group’s smart industry platform POS Frame,” said an official of POSCO ICT, adding, “We are going to keep refining our Smart X Solutions covering smart management, market network, blockchain and so on so the solutions can be better applied to various industrial sectors.”