Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
LS Electric gains AI power edge with in-house testing
Woo Sung-han, director and head of LS Electric's Power Testing & Technology Institute, speaks during a media tour of the facility in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Friday. Courtesy of LS Electric
By Lee Min-hyung
Faster certification, testing help LS meet surging AI power demand
CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province — The race to power the artificial intelligence (AI) era is extending beyond transformers and switchgears to an often-overlooked capability: testing.
As the rise of hyperscale data centers rapidly increase demand for customized electrical equipment, manufacturers with their own certification and testing infrastructure are gaining an edge in speed, flexibility and customer trust — an advantage LS Electric has spent decades building.
At its Power Testing & Technology Institute (PT&T) here, the company operates one of the world's most advanced private testing facilities for power equipment, enabling it to respond rapidly to changing customer specifications while maintaining internationally recognized certification standards.
The institute evaluates the performance and safety of nearly every major product in LS Electric's portfolio, including circuit breakers, transformers, cables and switchgears.
Beyond routine performance verification, engineers conduct destructive short-circuit tests designed to determine whether equipment can withstand extreme fault conditions before being approved for commercial use.
"Power equipment cannot be sold without certification," Woo Sung-han, director and head of LS Electric's Power Testing & Technology Institute, said during a media tour.
"Every product must undergo performance verification, and in many cases destructive testing, to prove that it can safely operate under the most demanding conditions."
Sparks erupt during a high-power electrical equipment test at LS Electric's Power Testing & Technology Institute in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Courtesy of LS Electric
The institute has grown into one of the world's leading facilities in its field, with testing capabilities comparable to those operated by global power giants, such as ABB.
The facility is also home to Korea's only privately-owned 1,000-megavolt-ampere (MVA) short-circuit generator.
The importance of those capabilities has increased sharply in recent years amid the boom in AI data centers particularly in the United States.
Unlike conventional facilities, AI data centers consume significantly more electricity per server rack than conventional data centers, and require highly stable, uninterrupted power.
As technology companies continue to expand AI computing capacity, demand has shifted beyond power generation to sophisticated distribution systems capable of delivering electricity safely and reliably.
Those systems are becoming increasingly customized.
A switchboard, for example, integrates multiple components, such as circuit breakers, switches and current transformers. Even a minor design modification requested by a customer often requires the entire system to undergo recertification, making testing speed a critical factor in winning contracts.
A switchgear is set up for testing inside the high-voltage testing hall at LS Electric's Power Testing & Technology Institute in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Courtesy of LS Electric
While many manufacturers rely on external certification agencies and public testing institutions, often facing months or even years of waiting before securing test schedules, LS Electric conducts most evaluations in-house.
If a product fails during testing, engineers can immediately identify the cause, redesign the equipment and repeat certification without restarting the lengthy external queue.
According to the company, that process shortens development and product qualification timelines much faster compared with competitors dependent on outside testing facilities.
The financial benefits are equally significant.
LS Electric spends roughly 10 billion won ($6.83 million) annually to operate the institute, including equipment maintenance, facility investment and product testing. Woo estimates outsourcing the same volume of testing would cost at least 25 billion won each year.
Beyond cost savings, the company says operating its own facility protects proprietary technologies and customer information.
The institute also performs preliminary reference testing before products undergo formal certification for ultra-high-voltage equipment. Since setting up an official certification test can cost around 100 million won per attempt, early verification helps reduce both financial losses and development delays.
PT&T’s testing facility has a short-circuit capacity of 4,000 MVA — sufficient to simulate the immense electrical energy generated by simultaneous faults at four 1-gigawatt nuclear power plants.
Using that infrastructure, LS Electric internally conducts testing on roughly 98 to 99 percent of the power equipment it manufactures.
The institute also supports verification for products destined for the North American market, ultra-high-voltage systems and environmentally friendly vacuum interrupters.
Building a comparable facility today would require more than 600 billion won in investment and at least seven years, according to the company. Procuring specialized short-circuit generators alone typically requires more than three years because the equipment is custom-made.
A high-voltage switchgear is installed inside the insulation testing hall at LS Electric's Power Testing & Technology Institute in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Courtesy of LS Electric
Alongside testing speed, international credibility has become increasingly important as Korean manufacturers expand overseas.
After first applying in 2015, LS Electric completed a decade-long verification process and officially became a member laboratory of the Short-Circuit Testing Liaison (STL) through the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute in February 2025.
Often regarded as the industry's most authoritative international organization for power equipment testing, STL recognizes only one representative testing institution per country. Membership requires years of technical evaluations, participation in international working groups and on-site inspections by global experts.
“The approval is a major milestone that places PT&T among the world's most trusted testing laboratories,” Woo said.
For LS Electric, the institute represents more than a certification facility.
The company established the foundation of PT&T during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and expanded the complex during the COVID-19 pandemic, periods when many companies were cutting investment. Those decisions reflected a long-term belief that testing infrastructure itself would become a core technological asset.