SK Signet lands EV charger contract in US

SK Signet Inc., an affiliate of South Korea's SK Group that makes and sells electric vehicle (EV) chargers, on Monday said it received its first order from TeraWatt Infrastructure, an American developer of EV charging stations.

Founded in 1998 as Signet Systems, SK Signet has the largest share of the US market for ultra-fast chargers. Last month, it began its first transaction with TeraWatt Infrastructure after holding working-level talks and on-site due diligence since last year.

Founded by Neha Palmer, formerly Google's head of energy strategy, TeraWatt Infrastructure is a unicorn, or a non-listed company valued at $1 billion or more, that has attracted 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion) in investment.

Through this contract, SK Signet expects to comply with the Buy America Act, which requires that EV chargers use a designated percentage of US-made parts. The American government in the middle of this month announced specific standards for applying the law to such chargers, and in addition to the condition of final assembly in the US, the requirement of using an external case made of American steel was added.

SK Signet emphasized its desire to maintain long-term cooperative ties with TeraWatt Infrastructure through this transaction.

"Our US plant is preparing to make new products from the second quarter of this year," said Joon Park, SK Signet's chief marketing officer. "We also secured an American manufacturer of steel cases to become an EV charger producer that complies with the Buy America Act."

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com