Korea District Heating Corp. (KDHC) held a ceremony to mark its 40th anniversary at KDHC headquarters in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi-do, on Oct. 31.
The event, held under the theme “40 Years of Achievement and 40 Years of Innovation” was designed to look back at its history and herald the start of the leap forward the corporation will make in the next 40 years.
A session to announce innovative examples was held to overcome a management crisis and refresh the sagging organizational atmosphere since 2023, when KHDC Jeong Yong-ki took office.
The session, marking the 3rd rendition, has established itself as a birthplace of KDHC’s full-fledged innovation by receiving a combined 422 task proposals for a contest.
The 2025 session consisted of a founding day ceremony, a future vision declaration ceremony, an AX demonstration competition, and the event announcing innovative examples. At a future vision declaration ceremony, KDHC released its mid- and long-term value and strategy systems.
The session was followed by a session announcing innovative examples in which nine outstanding innovation cases were selected by a 340 member evaluation committee. Winning entries were determined in real-time voting.
Innovative examples included the development of a power plant operation navigation which was done by digitalizing power plant operation check-up manuals. There was also a case that lowered law violations and increased work convenience by making a platform of safety-related regulations and writing documents.
Departments recognized for their contribution to spreading winning task entities for the past three years were presented with additional prizes to establish a corporate culture for continuous work innovation.
This year’s first AX demonstration competition, titled “Show Me the AI,” was an event designed for staff members to demonstrate their AI capabilities freely. The contest showcased making emoticons using KDHC’s mascot “Ttasomi.”
KDHC President Jeong Yong-ki said, “AI is an irreversible trend of the times, and if it cannot be avoided, we should make it as an opportunity of innovation and growth.
“We’ve found out that little ideas of the field have evolved into a companywide work innovation through the innovation case presentation session, and KDHC will spearhead into the energy industry and continue to demonstrate innovations in the future,” he said.
KDHC Teams Up with ABB on AX for AI-based Plants
Korea District Heating Corp. signed an MOU on technology exchange and mutual cooperation on community energy facility AI transformation with ABB on Nov. 4.
The deal is a part of “Smart:한난,” a task being implemented by KDHC in accordance with the government’s policies to step up the execution of public enterprise AI and the first step of realizing AI-based intelligent plants as part of artificial intelligence transformation strategies.
ABB is a global industry automation leader. KDHC has been accelerating AX beyond DX.
Last month, the corporation succeeded in the automation of the Nuri Heat Source in Sejong City and struck an MOU on automation for digital transformation with Korea Midland Power and Korea Southern Power.
Under the agreement with ABB, KDHC plans to jointly promote technology cooperation on AI related to the building of AI-type plants, cooperate on optimization of AI solutions, and consider the building of an AI testbed.
Both sides plan to fortify a mutual cooperation system by regularizing workshops and technology sessions in the years to come.
KDHC President Jeong said, “AI is a necessity for survival, not a choice, and we plan to employ AI technologies at major plants across the nation by 2030. Automation and efforts to make KDHC plants intelligent and interactive will be advanced under cooperation with ABB, thus stabilizing the national power grid and leading energy efficiency innovation.”
KDHC Conducts ‘2025 Anti-Disaster Safety Korea Drill’
Korea District Heat Corp. conducted the 2025 Anti-Disaster Safety Korea Drill, organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) at KDHC’s Gwanggyo Branch on Oct. 29.
The 2025 Anti-Disaster Safety Korea Drill is a national safety exercise designed to examine disaster response capabilities with ministries of the central government, public entities and citizens in attendance.
A combined 22 related organizations and neighborhood residents, including Suwon City, Suwon Fire-Fighting Station, and KEPCO KPS, participated in the drill.
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