Jakarta, June 29 – Indonesia’s Battery Corporation and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) plan to bring a joint lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant into operation by the end of 2026, according to Dwi Anggia, spokeswoman for the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. The facility will start with an annual production capacity of 6.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, with a planned expansion to 15 GWh to serve both domestic and international markets.
The venture, valued at approximately $6 billion, involves Indonesia Battery Corp, state miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk and a CATL consortium. Signed in 2022, the agreement covers the full battery value chain from nickel mining and processing to EV battery assembly and end-of-life battery recycling. Production is slated to take place in West Java, while related nickel-processing and supporting projects will be situated in North Maluku, a province known for its high-grade nickel reserves.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia indicated that the plant could also manufacture batteries for solar energy storage systems. If incorporated, these units would raise the facility’s total output capacity to as much as 40 GWh. Discussions between the government and project stakeholders are ongoing to finalize the scope of that addition.
Indonesia, which holds the world’s largest nickel reserves, aims to bolster its electric vehicle industry by producing roughly 600,000 EVs per year by 2030—a target more than 13 times the number sold domestically in the previous year. The government sees local battery manufacturing as a key component in developing a sustainable EV ecosystem and capturing greater value within the international battery supply chain.
Source: Reuters
