Indonesia's Pertamina, Electrum sign battery packs development deal

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state energy company Pertamina said late on Monday it plans to develop battery packs for electric motorcycles with Electrum, a firm that aims to put millions of electric two-wheelers on the roads of the Southeast Asian country.

The agreement was signed during a groundbreaking ceremony for Electrum's electric scooter plant on Friday, where the company, which is a joint venture between coal miner TBS Energi Utama and giant tech firm GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, aims to produce 250,000 units of electric scooters per year.

The planned battery packing facility run by Pertamina's renewables unit and Electrum could cover a capacity of about 300 megawatts, Pertamina official Dicky Septriadi said.

Indonesia has the world's largest reserves of nickel - a key element in electric vehicle (EV) batteries - and is keen to utilise the mineral to create a full supply chain for the industry.