▲ From left to right: Minister Chang-yang Lee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, President Sungil Ahn of KTC, Executive Vice President Weifang Zhou of UL Solutions, and Secretary Gina Raimondo of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Korea Testing Certification institute (KTC) announced that it has signed a business agreement with UL Solutions on April 27 in Washington, D.C., USA, to support the export of domestic electric vehicle charger manufacturers to North America and provide product development support in the EV battery field.
UL Solutions, a global leader in applied safety science, transforms safety, security, and sustainability issues into opportunities for customers in more than 100 countries. Along with software products and advisory services, UL Solutions provides testing, inspection, and certification services.
This agreement took place during the "U.S.-Korea Supply Chain and Commercial Dialogue" held on the 27th, in conjunction with the visit of the President of South Korea to the United States on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-Korea alliance. The signing ceremony was attended by Lee Chang-Yang, Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. After obtaining the CBTL (Certification Body Testing Laboratories) qualification for electric vehicle chargers in 2021 and being designated as the only UL Solutions product safety testing institution in August 2022, KTC has become the comprehensive testing institution for electric vehicle chargers in Korea through this agreement, enabling the provision of Energy Star testing services.
The recent U.S. government has announced regulations to replace 50% of new car sales with electric vehicles by 2030 as part of the response to the climate crisis and has allocated a budget of $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charger subsidies. The size of the electric vehicle charger market in the United States is projected to grow rapidly at an average annual rate of 27%, from 1.84 million units in 2020 to 20 million units in 2030. In this situation, the export volume of Korean electric vehicle chargers to the United States is expected to exceed one trillion won this year.
This agreement is part of the activities of the "Certification Assistance for Overseas" program, which was recently launched by the government in collaboration with export support agencies, including KTC. Domestic electric vehicle charger manufacturers will be able to obtain Energy Star certification through KTC without the need to send samples overseas. It is expected to contribute to achieving the government's goal of "export plus" by reducing the testing certification period from the usual three months to just over one month and saving logistics costs of approximately 18 million won, which accounts for 40% of the testing fees exceeding 50 million won.
In relation to this, KTC visited the headquarters of UL Solutions in Chicago on the 24th to discuss collaboration in the field of electric vehicle chargers, as well as cooperation in EV battery testing and certification to support the development and export of Korean companies' EV battery products. Meanwhile, the cumulative order volume of domestic battery companies, including LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and SK Innovation, has increased dramatically from 110 trillion won in 2018 to 1,000 trillion won in 2022.
President Sungil Ahn of KTC stated, "Following Japan and the United States, KTC plans to support the export of Korean charging station manufacturers to Europe through a business agreement with TUV Rheinland in May this year," and added, "We will also explore cooperation with UL Solutions to expand the service scope to include IoT cybersecurity, photovoltaic power generation (PV), and semiconductor fields."
Weifang Zhou, Executive Vice President of the Testing, Inspection, and Certification Division at UL Solutions, stated, "Consumer interest in energy savings and the environment is helping accelerate the adoption of innovative products that reduce environmental impact. We are delighted to be able to support the energy transition of Korean companies more effectively through collaboration with KTC."
