South Korea opens its largest hydrogen CV refuelling station

South Korea has opened a new hydrogen commercial vehicle refuelling station in Ulsan and is commencing full-scale operations there today. The new facility is the largest of its kind across the country.

Ulsan municipality calls the new facility the ‘Ulsan Myeongchon Hydrogen Refuelling Station’ and notes it is the city’s 17th hydrogen refuelling outlet. Operating at a pressure of 95 MPa, the new hydrogen refuelling station can dispense up to 300 kg per hour and refuel three hydrogen buses simultaneously. Open 24 hours, it holds the potential to cater to 1,440 cars or 360 large trucks and buses daily.

While previous facilities were built and operated with government funding, the new one was established under a private subsidy programme, with a total investment of 8 billion won (approx. 5 million euros). The Ministry of Environment allocated 4.2 billion won (approx. 2.6 million euros) in national funding, and private investors contributed an additional 3.8 billion won (approx. 2.4 million euros).

Kohygen, which specialises in building large hydrogen refuelling stations, constructed the Ulsan Myeongchon Hydrogen Refuelling Station within the Myeongchon public transportation depot, located on National Highway 7, a major corridor for large commercial freight vehicles. The company started construction in March 2023 and completed it in early December 2024. Kyungdong City Gas, primarily an LNG supplier but now also in the hydrogen business, is operating the new hydrogen refuelling station in Ulsan.

Kyungdong City Gas sources hydrogen at the Ulsan Myeongchon Hydrogen Refuelling Station in a more eco-friendly way than typical hydrogen refuelling stations. Instead of tube trailers, it uses a pipeline system stretching 10.5 km from the Yeocheon Intersection in Nam-gu to the Hyundai Motor Hyomun Intersection.

The Ulsan Myeongchon Hydrogen Refuelling Station is the fifth facility in Ulsan leveraging underground hydrogen pipeline infrastructure, following the Together Station, Air Products Hydrogen Fuelling Station, Sanggae SK Hydrogen Fuelling Station, and the Taehwagang Station Hydrogen Fuelling Station.

“With the completion and operation of the largest hydrogen charging station in Ulsan Myeongchon in Korea, it is expected that the transition to eco-friendly hydrogen mobility such as large trucks and commuter buses based on diesel fuel, which emit a large amount of air pollutants, will be accelerated,” a city official said.

ulsan.go.kr, ulsan.go.kr