SK E&S Expands Energy Solutions Business with ParkingCloud

Electric Vehicle Charging Service Available at 50 Parking Lots Nationwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] SK E&S is entering the domestic electric vehicle (EV) charging market to fully launch its mobility-based energy solution business.

SK E&S announced on the 18th that its subsidiary ParkingCloud will start EV charging services at more than 50 parking lots nationwide. ParkingCloud plans to provide a one-stop solution that allows convenient use from parking to charging through an application (app).

Electric vehicle charging stations operated by Parking Cloud, a subsidiary of SK E&S

Any EV driver can use the ParkingCloud reservation app 'iParking' to access services such as checking charger information and making payments without a separate membership card. In the future, the company plans to simplify the charger authentication process using vehicle number recognition technology, enhance convenience by offering integrated payment for parking and charging fees upon exit, and provide charging fee discounts linked to tenant stores.

ParkingCloud is the number one parking platform company in Korea, with a network of over 5,600 directly operated and affiliated parking lots. It has introduced a cloud-based unmanned parking management system and possesses manufacturing capabilities for parking control equipment.

SK E&S plans to start its EV charging business by utilizing the parking lot network owned by ParkingCloud and to fully develop its mobility-based energy solution business.

The energy solution business is a new industry that efficiently solves problems arising from power grid instability and diverse consumer energy usage patterns by integrating energy storage systems (ESS) and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

EVs are expected to play a role as distributed resources, acting both as energy consumers and suppliers through battery charging and discharging, functioning as "moving ESS."

Based on the experience accumulated in electricity production, storage, and distribution through renewable energy and ESS businesses, SK E&S plans to provide efficient and convenient EV charging infrastructure and promote various energy solution businesses. Last year, it acquired EverCharge, a U.S. EV charger manufacturing and operation company, expressing its vision to become a "top-tier global energy solution" provider.

An SK E&S official explained, "Since EVs can be charged anywhere chargers are installed and require at least 30 minutes of charging time, parking lots have great potential as hubs for future mobility energy solution businesses. We plan to develop various future business models differentiated from existing EV charging operators, such as V2X (bidirectional charging) business utilizing EVs as mobile ESS and mobile high-speed charging services."

Meanwhile, ParkingCloud plans to increase parking lot-based charging stations to about 1,000 by the end of the year and install approximately 7,000 slow and fast chargers. They are also pursuing plans to install chargers not only in major commercial facility parking lots but also at SK affiliates' office buildings nationwide.