Socar will enter the power market in Jeju based on its rental car service. Socar said on Tuesday it will start a V2G (Vehicle to Grid) pilot project in Jeju.

It is the first domestic case to apply V2G technology to a rental car service, using electric vehicles as distributed energy resources beyond transportation. V2G is a technology that exchanges power from an electric vehicle battery with the power grid in both directions. It is a concept of using an electric vehicle as a mobile energy storage system (ESS).

It discharges during times of high power demand and charges when surplus power occurs. This can contribute to stabilising the power grid and improving efficiency. Socar plans to use vehicles capable of large-scale charging and discharging to analyse operating data, establish operating standards and verify safety, and apply the entire process of turning electric vehicles into energy resources to its B2C rental car service.

It will use a regulatory sandbox pilot exemption jointly approved by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The pilot project will be carried out at the Socar Terminal, its offline base in Jeju. Socar prepared 15 bidirectional chargers and dedicated V2G parking spaces for the pilot.

It will deploy the Ioniq 9 and EV9, which support V2G functions and have the largest battery capacity in South Korea. In the first half of this year, it will expand the number of bidirectional chargers to as many as 200 in connection with a Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) R&D project roadmap. The company explained it plans to increase the share of electric vehicles it operates in Jeju to strengthen the foundation for large-scale commercialisation of V2G.

Jeju has an electric vehicle penetration rate of about 10 percent, the highest level nationwide. It is the region with the highest share of renewable energy such as wind and solar power. With about 30,000 rental cars in operation, it is South Korea's largest rental car market and has optimal conditions for turning electric vehicles into energy resources.

Jinho Jeong, head of Socar's EV Strategy Business Team, said: "This pilot project will be an important turning point in confirming the possibility that electric vehicles can be used as an energy resource beyond simply being a means of transportation." He added: "Through this pilot, we will verify a new energy business model based on electric vehicles and build and lead a sustainable mobility ecosystem."