JAKARTA: The construction of an integrated electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem in East Halmahera, North Maluku is set to begin in the third week of June, Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia says.
Bahlil said on Tuesday that the project, which covers the EV supply chain from mineral processing to battery-cell manufacturing, is expected to require between US$6bil and US$7bil (up to RM30bil) in investment.
“This is an EV battery project that brings together upstream to downstream operations in one location. Groundbreaking is planned for June,” he said here during the 2025 Human Capital Summit.
The industrial complex will include a high-pressure acid leaching smelter, precursor and cathode facilities and a battery cell plant.
The project is part of Indonesia’s strategy to build value-added industries around its nickel resources, the minister said, without providing any details on the companies involved.
Bahlil said on May 22 that President Prabowo Subianto had approved the consortium involved in the construction of the EV battery factory and was ready to start construction soon, referring to an end-to-end EV battery ecosystem operated by the Chinese Huayou consortium.
The EV battery ecosystem project, which covers the entire value chain from mining and refining to a 20 gigawatt battery cell production facility, is a large-scale investment initiative valued at approximately US$8bil, he added.
“It has been approved by the president. Under his direction, it is now being carried out by the Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt consortium, and there are no more issues. It is ready for breaking ground,” Bahlil said in a press conference here.
Bahlil explained that the shared ownership structure remains in line with the initial plan, with state-owned enterprises (SOEs) owning 50% of shares in the upstream segment.
“For the downstream joint venture, the SOEs shareholding is at around 30%. We’re still in talks to raise that number, with Danantara potentially joining the consortium,” he said.
Sovereign wealth fund Danantara has committed to backing two major EV battery supply chain projects led by Chinese firms Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), known as Titan and Dragon, respectively.
Danantara chief executive Rosan Roeslani said on May 22 the fund would bolster the Huayou-led consortium either directly or through SOEs now under Danantara’s control.
He even floated the idea of the government pursuing a majority stake in the projects.
He went on to say President Prabowo had approved Huayou as the new lead of the EV battery consortium, replacing LG Energy Solution, which exited in April.
He added that a separate project led by CATL had also resumed, noting that earlier funding issues had been resolved with the establishment of Danantara, which is now “ready to support the ventures”. — The Jakarta Post
