Hydrogen-powered Buses Put into Operation in Seoul

Hydrogen-fueled buses have debuted in Seoul, following their first introduction in Ulsan City on the southeastern coast of the nation.

Hyundai Motor Co. said on Nov. 21 that it has put its new hydrogen electric buses into operation in Seoul. Seoul has become the second South Korean city with hydrogen electric intra-city buses behind Ulsan, where the same type of buses began their operation on Oct. 22.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed MOUs with the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport on a wider use of hydrogen-fueled buses. According to the MOUs, intra-city buses in Seoul will be replaced in stages with hydrogen-fueled buses.

Also, a mass production system is scheduled to be put into operation in 2020 before running of 1,000 hydrogen-fueled buses in major cities starting from 2022.

In Seoul, the hydrogen electric buses inwill be test-run for 10 months until August next year. They will run on Route 405, which spans about 43 kilometers from Yeomgok-dong to the Seoul City Hall. The hydrogen electric buses will be operated four to five times a day and charged at the Yangjae Hydrogen Charging Station. Seoul City is going to build four hydrogen charging stations by 2021, which will be shared by hydrogen-fueled buses and passenger cars.

In addition, a total of 30 hydrogen electric intra-city buses will be test-run next year in the six cities of Seoul, Ulsan, Gwangju, Changwon, Seosan and Asan. Those are divided into seven in Seoul, six in Gwangju, three in Ulsan, five in Changwon, four in Asan and five in Seosan.

A group of 13 companies including Korea Gas Corp., Hyundai Motor Co. and Deokyang formed a special purpose company (SPC) on Nov. 21 for construction of hydrogen charging stations. The companies are going to invest 135 billion won in the SPC to build 100 hydrogen charging stations by 2022.