Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated the laying of the first stone or groundbreaking of the largest electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem project in Asia, in Karawang, West Java, today, Sunday (6/29/2025). The largest EV battery industry project in Asia has a total investment from upstream to downstream reaching US$ 5.9 billion, equivalent to IDR 96.04 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of IDR 16,278 per US$). The project is operated by PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), PT Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), and a Chinese company, Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend Co. Ltd. (CBL), which is a joint venture between CATL, Brunp and Lygend.
In this inauguration, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto stated that this groundbreaking has historical and strategic value. Therefore, he took the time to attend it. In fact, the ideals of downstreaming have been around for a long time, namely from the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, to the 7th President, Joko Widodo, who actually started the program.
“This groundbreaking is proof of the seriousness of our leaders in collaborating with our partners and our friends in China. We can work together with a program that I think can be said to be colossal, it can be said to be an extraordinary breakthrough,” explained Prabowo.
The Largest Integrated Battery Industry Project in Asia. The project consists of a total of six joint ventures (Joint Ventures/JVs) ranging from upstream to downstream projects. In detail, JVs one to three are battery ecosystems on the upstream side. Meanwhile, JVs four to six are battery ecosystems on the downstream side.
Upstream:
JV 1: Nickel mining project of PT Sumberdaya Arindo (SDA) with a production capacity of 7.8 million wet metric tons (wmt) of saprolite nickel and 6 million wmt of limonite, a total of 13.8 million wmt with a share ownership portion of PT Antam of 51% and CBL of 49%. This project has started production since 2023. JV 2: Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) nickel refining and processing facility (smelter) project of PT Feni Haltim (FHT) with a capacity of 88 thousand tons of refined nickel alloy per year with a share ownership portion of CBL of 60% and PT Antam of 40%. This project is targeted to start production in 2027. JV 3: High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) nickel refining and processing facility project (HPAL JVCO) PT Nickel Cobalt Halmahera (HPAL JVCO) with a capacity of 55 thousand tons of MHP per year with a share ownership portion of CBL 70% and PT Antam 30%. This project is targeted to start production in 2028.
Downstream:
JV 4: Battery material project that will produce cathode materials, cobalt sulfate, and ternary precursors with a capacity of 30 thousand tons of Li-hydroxide located in East Halmahera, North Maluku with a share ownership portion of CBL 70% and PT IBC 30%. This project is targeted to start production in 2028. JV 5: Battery cell project PT Contemporary Amperex Technology Indonesia Battery (CATIB) located in Artha Industrial Hill (AIH) & Karawang New Industry City (KNIC). This project is divided into phase 1 with a capacity of 6.9 GWh/year and phase 2 with a capacity of 8.1 GWh/year, a total capacity of 15 GWh/year. Meanwhile, CBL’s share ownership portion is 70% and PT IBC’s is 30%. This project is targeted to start production in 2026 for phase 1, and in 2028 for phase 2. JV 6: The battery recycling project is located in East Halmahera, North Maluku with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of metal/year with CBL’s share ownership portion of 60% and PT IBC’s is 40%. This project is targeted for 2031. Specifically for JV 5, phase 1 of the Li-ion battery cell project is targeted to start operating completely by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, in the second phase of the JV 5 project, which will later operate with a capacity of up to 15 GWh/year, it is targeted to operate in 2028.
June 29, 2025, CNBC Indonesia(https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20250629145258-4-644692/prabowo-resmikan-proyek-baterai-ev-ri-rp9604-triliun-ini-pemiliknya)