SK Plug Hyverse, a subsidiary of SK Innovation E&S, said on the 10th that it held a ceremony on the 7th in Suseong-gu, Seongnam, to mark the start of operations at the Seongnam Sasong liquefied hydrogen charging station. Hyverse builds and operates 19 liquefied hydrogen charging stations nationwide.
The event was prepared to share the operating results of the Seongnam Sasong liquefied hydrogen charging station, which began operations in April, and to discuss ways to accelerate the supply of hydrogen buses and the construction of charging infrastructure. The Seongnam Sasong liquefied hydrogen charging station is equipped with a 4-ton (t) liquefied hydrogen storage tank, a cryogenic pump, and four charging dispensers, with a facility capacity of 240 kg/h. It can charge up to 12 hydrogen buses per hour and 240 per day.
Since its completion in April and after stabilizing operations, the Seongnam Sasong liquefied hydrogen charging station has become the largest hydrogen transport hub in Gyeonggi Province, selling about 1,400 kilograms (kg) of liquefied hydrogen per day on average. The station serves not only Seongnam's city, village, and intercity buses, but also corporations' commuter charter buses and hydrogen buses from nearby local governments. About 80 hydrogen buses use the station per day on average, for a total of 164.
Starting with the Seongnam Sasong liquefied hydrogen charging station, SK Plug Hyverse plans to fully apply the new hydrogen bus fuel purchase transaction card, developed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) in September to improve hydrogen charging convenience for charter bus operators. Until now, transport operators had to issue separate RFID (radio frequency identification) cards for each charging station and bus to receive hydrogen fuel subsidies (5,000 won per kg) provided by the ministry. However, using the new fuel purchase transaction card allows the use of multiple charging stations and makes it easy to receive fuel subsidies. If a single transaction card can be used to charge at any SK Plug Hyverse station, it is expected to improve charging convenience for charter buses that need to use stations nationwide.
Jeon Young-jun, head of new energy business at SK Innovation E&S, said, "Going forward, based on the operating experience of the Seongnam Sasong station, we will further expand an efficient liquefied hydrogen charging network in the Seoul metropolitan area and help build a practical foundation for a carbon-neutral society where hydrogen permeates transportation, industry, and citizens' daily lives."