SK Energy Co., a major South Korean oil refiner, said Friday it is joining hands with a state-run electric power supplier to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure at traditional gas stations across the country.
SK Energy will work with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. to build "energy super stations" that provide both refueling of internal combustion engine vehicles and charging of EVs, in a move to facilitate the adoption of the eco-friendly car charging system, SK said in a release.
Energy super stations are a new business model that adds solar panel and fuel cell systems to existing gas and LPG stations to generate electricity for EV charging.
SK Energy, a unit of SK Innovation Co., has installed the facilities at two of its existing gas stations in Seoul upon a special government approval for the demonstration of distributed energy systems, such as photovoltaic and fuel cell platforms.
The government has been actively supporting the energy super stations through the regulatory sandbox for the installation of fuel cells at gas stations. SK built the first energy super station in a southwestern district in Seoul early last year.
Under the memorandum of understanding, SK Energy and KHNP will also work together to build hydrogen charging stations based on a tri-gen fuel cell platform equipped to produce electricity, hydrogen and heat on site at the same time, according to SK. (Yonhap)
