Yeongsangang Regional Environmental Office Accelerates Hydrogen Charging Station Infrastructure Development

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office (Director Ryu Yeon-gi) announced on the 24th that it is actively supporting the establishment of hydrogen charging stations to promote the hydrogen economy and accelerate the popularization of hydrogen vehicles in the region, with one additional charging station to be completed in downtown Gwangju.

The newly completed Wolchul hydrogen charging station is located within Gwangju Technopark Complex 2 (Gwangju Research and Development Special Zone Advanced 1 District). Construction began in March and has now been completed, with commercial operations scheduled to start in December.

Currently, there are a total of 7 charging stations operating in the Gwangju and Jeonnam areas, with 1,215 hydrogen vehicles in operation as of the end of October.

With the addition of the Wolchul hydrogen charging station, the number of vehicles charged per station has decreased from about 174 to about 152. However, expanding the supply of hydrogen vehicles still urgently requires the expansion of charging stations.

In the Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeju regions, in addition to the newly completed Wolchul hydrogen charging station, 16 more stations (7 in Gwangju, 8 in Jeonnam, and 2 in Jeju) are currently under construction.

The government plans to establish more than 450 hydrogen charging stations by 2025 and supply over 200,000 hydrogen vehicles, including hydrogen buses and hydrogen trucks.

Accordingly, the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office is forming regional consensus by holding briefing sessions for local governments within its jurisdiction to ensure that at least one station is established in each city, county, and district in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeju by 2025, considering the current status of hydrogen vehicle supply, regional balance, and charging convenience.

Furthermore, it will continue to collaborate with related organizations such as local governments, operators, and specialized institutions (Korea Environment Corporation, Korea Automobile Environment Association, etc.), and will derive concrete implementation methods such as discovering new sites and simplifying approval procedures.

Hydrogen charging stations are safe facilities, located near important national facilities such as the National Assembly and Sejong Government Complex domestically, and near landmarks like the Eiffel Tower in France and Tokyo Tower in Japan internationally.

The components of hydrogen charging stations use parts that have passed safety inspections according to ISO international standards, the same as those in advanced countries, and the station structures are installed as explosion-proof and safety structures.

Hydrogen charging stations emphasize safety by conducting technical reviews from safety management specialized institutions, performing three-stage intermediate inspections and final completion inspections, and during operation, only employees who have received safety training are allowed to perform charging, thus managing the facilities more strictly than foreign countries.

Ryu Yeon-gi, Director of the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, said, “Due to the recent urea solution crisis, demand for eco-friendly vehicles is expected to increase explosively. We will cooperate with related organizations to ensure that at least one station is established in each city, county, and district by 2025 so that local residents can use hydrogen vehicles without inconvenience, and we will do our best to speed up the establishment of hydrogen charging stations.”

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