The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's National Institute of Standards and Technology (hereinafter referred to as KATS) is standardizing charger communication methods to lower the cost of manufacturing chargers and ensure smooth service transfer even when the charger operator changes.

The Korea Agency for Technology and Standards announced that it has completed the revision of the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Management System (Part 1: General Requirements) standard and will announce the Korean Industrial Standard (KS R 1201-1) on the 22nd.

It is expected that the revision of national standards to enable electric vehicle charger manufacturers and charging service providers to utilize the Common Charger Communication Protocol (OCPP) will play a major role in managing charging business and reducing costs.

OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) is an open charger protocol that sets rules for smooth communication between chargers and management servers regarding remote management and control, charger status, etc.

Meanwhile, the domestic electric vehicle charging infrastructure expanded from government-led projects such as the Ministry of Environment and KEPCO to the private sector, and individual communication methods were used by each charger operator, which limited systematic operation and management.

Since each business has a different communication method, it is difficult to build and operate a charging management system, and there are restrictions on the efficient construction of a charging facility network for the full-scale expansion of electric vehicles.

In order to reduce such social demands and economic losses and establish a national standard for electric vehicle charger communication methods, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has collected opinions from the Ministry of Environment, KEPCO, and related companies to unify the communication method between the charging station management system and the charging station, and has adopted OC, which is widely used internationally.PP Ver. 1.6 was introduced as a national standard.

▲ OCPP application scope (Image provided by: National Institute of Standards and Technology)

OCPP Ver. 1.6 is an electric vehicle charging management communication standard. Since its development in 2016, its stability has been verified and it is being used by 161 companies in 70 countries around the world. In Korea, the Environment Corporation, LH, etc. have adopted it as a charging management communication standard and are using it from 2022.

The KATS plans to first promote OCPP ver. 1.6, which has excellent stability, but will also review future revisions in consideration of technological advancements such as V2G (bidirectional power transfer) and the development status of international standards (IEC 63110).

IEC 63110 is an electric vehicle charging and discharging management protocol that is currently being developed as an international standard and is scheduled to be established in 2024.

Lee Sang-hoon, head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said, “We will contribute to the development of the charging industry by standardizing the communication method for electric vehicle chargers through continuous consultation with relevant ministries, electric vehicle charging service providers, and charger manufacturers.”