LG Uplus said on Tuesday that its Pyeongchon2 Center has obtained ISO 50001 certification, the International Organization for Standardization's international standard for energy management systems.

ISO 50001 is an international standard that sets criteria for establishing and operating an energy management system. Pyeongchon2 Center, completed in 2023, is an internet data centre with three basement levels and nine above-ground floors. From the design stage, it applied a high-efficiency cooling system that uses cold outside air to manage server heat and reduce energy used for cooling.

LG Uplus is also verifying next-generation cooling technologies to respond to an increase in high-performance AI servers. At Pyeongchon2 Center, it is conducting trials of technologies including direct-to-chip cooling, which directly cools servers' graphics processing units with coolant, as it looks for ways to improve cooling efficiency at AI data centres.

It is also pursuing steps such as replacing equipment with high-efficiency alternatives, optimising cooling operations and switching to renewable energy at key business sites including data centres. It is expanding the use of cooling that directly utilises outside air and is gradually improving the energy efficiency of servers and power equipment.

LG Uplus said it will use the certification as an opportunity to continuously review energy use at major facilities and strengthen energy-saving efforts by using high-efficiency equipment and AI-based operational technologies.

Woo-jung Lee (이우정), head of AIDC operations at LG Uplus, said: "This certification is the result of efforts to systematically manage and improve the efficiency of energy use at major facilities including data centres." He added: "We will continue to expand efforts to reduce energy use and switch to renewable energy to strengthen the foundation for sustainable management."