[단독] The national gas station opens the era of electricity charging

Petrol stations and LPG charging stations located across the country will be seriously converted into charging stations for electric vehicles. The convenience of using electric vehicles is expected to improve rapidly as the private sector is actively expanding the government-led electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

According to the refining industry and related ministries on the 13th, Environment Minister Cho Joong-rae and representatives of the oil refining industry gathered to sign a memorandum of understanding to expand the charging infrastructure for vehicles future.

The Lotte Hotel, located in Jung-gu, Seoul, 18, is considered promising, and the participating oil refineries and LPG companies are SK Energy, GS Caltex, S-Oil, Hyundai Oilbank, SK Gas and E1, respectively, with four oil refineries and 2 LPG suppliers. This is the place. Joon-young Jang, president of Korea Environment Corporation will also be present.

The key to this day’s MOU is to install fast electric vehicle chargers in gas stations and LPG gas charging stations located nationwide. A senior official from the Ministry of the Environment said: “Since hydrogen is difficult to equip and expensive, we will install it mainly for fast chargers for electric vehicles” and said: “Private companies will install them voluntarily to meet the demand for electric vehicle charging and the government is willing to support them. Explained. The Ministry of the Environment and Korea Environment Corporation plan to provide financial support and pilot projects for the installation of the future vehicle charging infrastructure at service stations and LPG charging stations.

In the past, operators of private gas stations and LPG charging stations have voluntarily built the future vehicle charging infrastructure, but this MOU is significant for the participation of most of the major companies in the sector and the government has also confirmed the their willingness to support.

The national infrastructure for internal combustion locomotives could be an opportunity to transform into infrastructure for future vehicles. National refineries, including SK Innovation and GS Caltex, have built infrastructure capable of loading all fuels, such as LPG, electricity and hydrogen, as well as gasoline and diesel at service stations, or have induced changes in the spaces where they are available car sharing, car wash and maintenance services. .

A refinery official said: “Several service stations are already increasing electric vehicle charging facilities with the government. As the auto market itself is changing, if government financial support is added, the refinery will also actively participate in the policy. to respond to changes “. She said.

With large private companies participating in the government-led hydrogen and electric car charging station project, the government’s goal of supplying 1.33 million electric and hydrogen cars in 2025 is expected to gain momentum. The key to the spread of electric and hydrogen vehicles is the price and convenience of charging.

No matter how well-finished car manufacturers make products, car prices are still higher than petrol and diesel, and the convenience of charging is far less than at gas stations. To improve this, the government is undertaking a project to reduce the purchase and operating costs of electric and hydrogen vehicles to the level of an internal combustion locomotive by 2025 and to create 500,000 electric chargers and 450 hydrogen charging stations by 2025. 2025 by significantly increasing the charging stations for electricity and hydrogen. It is a policy.

With this MOU, if gas stations and LPG charging stations operated by private companies are successfully transformed into electric and hydrogen vehicle charging stations, in addition to the government-led infrastructure expansion, the private sector can also participate. to a rapidly expanding charging infrastructure. After 2022, the government plans to increase the convenience of charging in residential areas by providing electric vehicle chargers up to 5% of the number of parking spaces in new buildings after 2022.If fast charging becomes available at service stations, the Electric vehicle users can charge both at their residence and in areas other than their residence. You can do it comfortably.

If business feasibility is confirmed through this pilot project, there is the possibility that 11,449 service stations located across the country as of April this year will be transformed into charging stations for electric and hydrogen vehicles. At the end of last year, if all LPG charging stations were successfully converted over the long term, it means more than 13,000 electric fast charging stations would have been created.

Another oil refinery official said, “Since a refinery is not a place that produces and sells electricity, setting up electric vehicle charging facilities is not very helpful for performance,” but said, “However, since it cannot counter the trend of the times, it is necessary to survive new changes with the government. We will continue to find a way. “

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