Jakarta (ANTARA) – Construction of the battery cell factory for electric vehicles in Indonesia will commence in July-end and will become operational and start production in 2023, Investment Minister, concurrently Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Head Bahlil Lahadalia stated.
The battery cell factory is an investment project between a consortium from South Korea LG and Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), under which the production capacity will reach 10 gigawatts per hour in the first phase.
“God willing, the production capacity will reach 10 gigawatts per hour in late 2023,” Lahadalia noted during the webinar “Prospects and Challenges of the National Battery Industry” held by the University of Indonesia, Thursday.
The minister expounded that his side will ink an agreement to commence construction of a cell battery factory in June.
“We will build the battery cell factory in late July or early August, with the first groundbreaking,” he remarked. The BKPM head highlighted that development of the electric vehicle ecosystem was intentionally commenced in the downstream and thereafter the upstream. The government is averse to the exports of semi-finished materials.
“We have to keep our raw materials from being exported for semi-finished products,” he stated.
Lahadalia noted that investment in the development of the integrated electric vehicle battery industry is the largest, even on the global level.
The investment value reached US$9.8 billion, or around Rp142 trillion.
“This is Indonesia’s biggest investment after the reform, and it is built from the upstream to downstream, from mining, smelters, precursors, cathodes, and cell batteries to even recycle, recycling in Indonesia,” he remarked.
LG is one of the world’s top electric car battery players.
“Based on LG and studies by several companies, the project is the largest in the world,” the minister noted.
Source: Antara News