The ongoing supply disruption of hydrogen for vehicles in central Korea has gradually eased, and the shortage is expected to be fully resolved by around mid-December, the industry ministry said Tuesday.

Hydrogen charging stations in the greater Seoul area, the central Chungcheong Province and the eastern province of Gangwon have experienced a supply shortage recently, causing long lines of drivers to power up their cars, as part of Hyundai Steel’s hydrogen production equipment broke down in the western city of Dangjin earlier this month.

The local hydrogen producer takes up around 20 to 30 percent of the hydrogen supply in the region.

“We’ve secured and supplied additional volumes of hydrogen produced at other facilities to the affected region since Saturday, which have met most of the demand from charging stations there,” the ministry said in a release.

Hyundai Steel is pushing to speed up repair work to complete the maintenance by mid-December.

Some 20 charging stations have shortened their operating times, but they will operate normally starting Wednesday, it added.

Korea has a total of 160 hydrogen charging stations nationwide, and 96 of them are located in the central parts of the country.

The Korea Times, December 4, 2023