KT Leads IDC ESG with 'AI IDC Operator'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] As ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management is emerging globally as an essential issue for corporate survival, KT announced its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030 compared to 2007 (1,276,872 tons CO2-eq). As the leading IDC market operator in Korea, KT is strengthening its ESG efforts by applying AI to IDC power management.

On the 16th, KT announced that it has pilot-applied the ‘AI IDC Operator,’ which automatically controls temperature and humidity within the IDC (Internet Data Center) using artificial intelligence (AI), at the KT Mokdong IDC2 Center and plans to sequentially apply it to all KT IDCs.

The AI IDC Operator is a solution customized for IDCs based on the ‘AI Building Operator’ independently developed by KT Convergence Technology Institute. The AI collects and analyzes temperature and humidity data inside the IDC and automatically controls the facilities. Compared to the conventional method of manually adjusting individual devices, it can improve power efficiency.

If a consistent environment is not maintained inside the IDC, it can lead to server overload, making temperature and humidity control the most critical factors for IDCs that efficiently manage client servers.

KT plans to reduce power consumption by 13 million kWh this year at its Mokdong, Bundang, and Gangnam IDCs. To achieve this, in the first half of the year, it improved air-cooled precision air conditioners to heat exchange water-cooled types and introduced direct outside air cooling. Along with replacing old turbo chillers, it replaced precision air conditioners with energy-saving AC cooling fans and switched outdated lighting fixtures to LED bulbs.

Furthermore, KT is pursuing energy savings by applying the latest technologies from the IDC design stage. When designing new IDC constructions, it is reviewing the application of renewable energy such as solar power and hydrogen fuel cells. The ‘KT DX IDC Yongsan,’ opened in November 2020, utilized energy-saving new technologies like chilled water precooling to reduce cooling power costs by more than 20%.

KT plans to incorporate energy-saving technologies not only in its own IDCs but also in DBO (Design Build Operation) projects and brand IDCs. The DBO business model involves designing, building, and operating IDCs on behalf of asset management companies or local governments. Brand IDCs are facilities where KT applies its operational system and network by leasing IDCs from other operators.

Lee Mi-hee, Senior Vice President and Head of KT Cloud/DX Business Division, said, “Using IDCs is more energy-efficient than each company operating its own data center individually, so we should encourage the transition to IDCs. As the number one IDC operator in Korea, KT will actively introduce the latest domestic and international energy technologies to lead IDC ESG.”

Meanwhile, KT has established a ‘Hyperscale AI Zone’ to support large-scale AI research and development requiring high integration and high power, and introduced the IPU (Intelligent Processing Unit), which has 40-80% energy efficiency compared to existing GPUs, for the first time in Korea.