Karawang have a giant battery factory in ASEAN!

Indonesia is predicted to have the largest electric vehicle battery factory in Southeast Asia. The factory itself is planned to be built in the Karawang area, West Java. Director of Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) Toto Nugroho explained that the factory was the result of collaboration with a consortium from South Korea, LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group. The factory is planned to start its first production in 2024. "This is a 10 GWh (Giga Watt hour) battery cell project, this is the largest in ASEAN, it is an investment between Hyundai and LG," he said in a Hearing Meeting with Commission VII, Wednesday (12/4/2023). IBC's participation in this "giant" battery project only takes the form of share ownership of around 5%. "We, BUMN, were given the opportunity to negotiate to enter there as a minority, which is not large, almost 5% and currently 80% of the Omega project itself has construction in Karawang and is ready to operate in 2024," he said. Toto said that the electric vehicle battery factory in Karawang had an investment of US$ 1.1 billion or Rp. 16.37 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp. 14,886 per US$). "The Omega Project in Karawang is almost 70-80% under construction, the investment value is US$ 1.1 billion and this is the beginning of Indonesia becoming an EV Production Hub, it is integrated with the Hyundai car factory. It also produces not only for Indonesia but is also exported," he explained. On the other hand, Toto explained that the world's need for batteries for electric vehicles will reach 5,300 GWh in 2035 and will be dominated by the need for four-wheeled electric vehicles. Meanwhile, the need for EV batteries mostly comes from 3 areas, namely the United States, Europe and Asia. Toto said, Indonesia is targeted to become an EV Battery Production Hub in the Southeast Asia region. Moreover, Indonesia has the raw materials needed to make electric vehicle batteries, especially nickel. "We are targeting Indonesia as a production hub for EV batteries because in ASEAN itself, only Indonesia has the largest assets for related materials and we have the opportunity to become a hub exporter to the ASEAN region," he said. Source: https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20230412175438-4-429404/gak-nyangka-karawang-punya-pabrik-baterai-raksasa-se-asean