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| Fuel-cell cars refuel at an Anseong Highway rest area in Gyeonggi Province. Provided to Hankook Ilbo |
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Korean government is pushing to introduce more fueling stations amid a public outcry about the shortage.
The clean air planning division from the Ministry of Environment's air quality policy bureau admitted Tuesday that public concern about safety issues had delayed the introduction of more stations.
The concerns followed a hydrogen tank explosion at Gangneung Science Industry Complex in Gangwon Province in May that injured eight and a fueling station explosion in the Norwegian suburb of Baerum in Oslo in June that sent two to hospital.
Worried citizens in Gangneung objected to the government's move to build a fueling station whose location was already set. The authority retreated and started searching for a new location.
The province also plans to introduce four fueling stations in Samcheok, Chuncheon, Wonju and Sokcho. But the cities have only just selected construction companies and the first station is not expected to be completed in Samcheok until late this year.
"We will work with related government divisions, regional authorities and civic groups in promptly introducing hydrogen fueling stations so as to minimize the inconvenience being experienced by fuel-cell car drivers," the ministry's division said.
"We are discussing with the Gangwon government to introduce the fueling stations in Samcheok and Sokcho within this year and Chuncheon, Wonju and Gangneung within the first half of 2020."
The ministry originally planned to set up 86 fueling stations nationwide within this year, but many have been pushed back to next year due to public concern.
"Introducing them fast isn't as important as safety," a ministry official told JoongAng Ilbo.
As of late August, there are 28 fueling stations nationwide, with two in Seoul, three in Gyeonggi Province and six in Ulsan. But seven of the stations are reserved for experimental purposes and are unavailable for users. The rest serve 2,752 private vehicles and four buses ― including the Hyundai Nexo President Moon Jae-in started using in August. The number of private vehicles has jumped four times from last year and the government plans to increase this to 6,200 by the end of this year.
Despite the rising trend, the lack of hydrogen infrastructure is causing inconvenience. With the limited number of fueling stations, users have to travel a long distance to the nearest fueling station. Even at the stations, they often must queue for hours.
"Green Energy Station" in Yangjae area in Seoul's Gangnam District started offering only half a tank of fuel (350bar) to each customer to reduce fueling time. The venue closes outside business hours.
The Seoul government plans to introduce a fueling station in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido in October. But it is not expected to improve the bottleneck as the existing stations are expected to close for system upgrades later this year.
A delay in opening new stations in Incheon and the Gyeonggi regions is expected to force local users to wait in line at Seoul venues.
