As the concept of 'net zero'—which involves reabsorbing emitted greenhouse gases to reduce net emissions to '0' in order to combat global warming—becomes more widespread, SKT has set out to develop technology in the field of Green AI to achieve net zero.

SKT announced on the 28th that it signed a business agreement with SK Energy, the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, startups Sixty Hertz and Softberry to develop future Virtual Power Plant (VPP) technology.

Through this agreement, SKT will engage in joint technology development in key areas of virtual power plant technology, including renewable energy generation and electric vehicle (EV) charging demand forecasting, optimal control of Energy Storage Systems (ESS), and power trading based on Energy Management Systems (EMS).

■ Virtual Power Plant for Integrated Management of New and Renewable Energy

Virtual Power Plant (VA Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is a virtual system concept in which individuals or businesses connect renewable energy produced on a small scale in each region using solar or wind power, etc., to a platform and manage it as if it were a single power plant.

SKT stated that virtual power plants are attracting attention as a future energy management technology to overcome environmental issues such as the depletion of energy resources and the reduction of carbon emissions, and that the utilization of AI technology is essential for building and operating them.

In virtual power plants, AI technology is used to predict the amount of renewable energy generated, which has inconsistent production, increase the accuracy of predicting customers' electricity demand, such as electric vehicle charging, and optimize the generated electricity through algorithms when managing energy storage systems (ESS).

■ SK Energy, KEPRI, and Startups Join Hands

SKT has also partnered with startups such as SK Energy, Sixty Hertz, and Softberry, as well as the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute.

SK Energy is taking the lead in transforming existing gas stations into 'Energy Super Stations' that directly produce and sell eco-friendly energy.

The startup Sixty Hertz is currently operating a virtual power plant that predicts the supply of all renewable energy nationwide to develop virtual power plant technology, and plans to collaborate with SKT to build technology for predicting solar power generation and a solar power map.

SKT plans to jointly develop technology with Softberry, the No. 1 EV charging information app company in Korea, to predict power consumption using data such as electric vehicle driving information and charging patterns, and apply this to the operation of virtual power plants.

With the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, the Energy Storage System (ESS) We optimize and jointly research virtual power plant operation technology.

Meanwhile, SKT added that it plans to expand into various Green ICT areas by leading cooperation among domestic and international affiliates, such as forming a relevant task force (TF) under the ICT Committee, to achieve net-zero in the future.

Lee Jong-min, Head of Future R&D at SKT, stated, “We will pursue cooperation with various partners based on SKT’s ICT technological capabilities to solve upcoming future energy challenges,” adding, “Through this, we will strengthen the practice of ESG management and take the lead in building a future technology ecosystem.”