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A hydrogen charging station installed at the National Assembly

A hydrogen charging station installed at the National Assembly

Posted September. 11, 2019 07:35,   

Updated September. 11, 2019 07:35

한국어

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy held a ceremony in front of the National Assembly building on Tuesday to mark the completion of the hydrogen charging station in the presence of National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, and Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo. The charging station has a capacity of 25 kilograms an hour, supplying hydrogen to about 70 vehicles a day.

The National Assembly’s hydrogen charging station is the nation’s first case of a regulatory sandbox, which allows a grace period or waiver of regulations for new products or services. Hyundai Motor applied for the relaxation of regulations on the installation of hydrogen charging stations in cities and received approval from a deliberation committee in February.

“It is symbolic for a hydrogen charging station to be installed at the National Assembly, which is a legislative body representing the people, like the hydrogen charging stations set up near the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Tokyo Tower in Tokyo,” said an official at the ministry.

Currently, a total of 29 hydrogen charging stations including the one of the National Assembly are under operation across the country. The ministry said it will increase the number to 301 by 2022 and 1,200 by 2040 under the Hydrogen Economy Roadmap. According to the government, it will present ways to speed up the installation of hydrogen charging stations within this month.

The ministry also said it will pilot-run hydrogen taxi service in Seoul. Taxi companies including Samwhan and City Taxi will operate five hydrogen taxis each. The government plans to increase the number of hydrogen taxis to 20 by the end of 2022. The ministry expects that the pilot project will provide up to 800,000 Seoul citizens with the experience of hydrogen taxis for the next five four years.


Choong-Hyun Song balgun@donga.com