Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Establish Hydrogen Charging Stations at Sintanjin and Chuncheon Rest Areas

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Expressway Corporation announced on the 29th that hydrogen charging stations have been established at two locations: Sintanjin Rest Area (Seoul direction) on the Gyeongbu Expressway and Chuncheon Rest Area (Busan direction) on the Jungang Expressway.

These hydrogen charging stations are scheduled to officially operate in January next year after passing the final inspection by the Korea Gas Safety Corporation and internal test operations.

The charging stations at Sintanjin and Chuncheon Rest Areas are the first hydrogen charging stations established on expressways in the Chungcheong and Gangwon regions, respectively. It is expected to alleviate the inconvenience for hydrogen vehicle users traveling in these areas.

Chuncheon Rest Area partially bore the cost for establishing the hydrogen charging station, as Chuncheon City previously had no hydrogen charging stations. This is expected to greatly help not only the citizens of Chuncheon and residents of Gangwon Province who have experienced inconvenience due to the lack of charging stations but also hydrogen vehicle drivers visiting Gangwon Province.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to establish 60 hydrogen charging stations at expressway rest areas and other locations by 2022 to support long-distance travel of hydrogen vehicles. Currently, 8 hydrogen charging stations are in operation at expressway rest areas, with 4 stations each established by Korea Expressway Corporation and Hyundai Motor Company. Next year, including the charging stations at Sintanjin and Chuncheon Rest Areas, a total of 16 additional hydrogen charging stations will be operated.

Joo Hyun-jong, Director General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “Although more than ten thousand hydrogen vehicles have been distributed, the lack of hydrogen charging stations has caused inconvenience to the public using hydrogen vehicles,” and added, “We will rapidly establish hydrogen charging stations nationwide on expressways to expand hydrogen vehicle charging infrastructure, a representative industry of carbon neutrality, and to alleviate inconveniences for citizens and businesses.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.