China’s Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt just announced a partnership with electric vehicle battery maker EVE Energy and other players for a USD 2.08 billion nickel and cobalt project in Indonesia. This will represent Huayou’s third battery nickel smelting project in Indonesia. The new site aims to produce an annual of 120,000 tons of nickel and 15,000 tons of cobalt on a metal content basis.
In addition, Huayou will also join a consortium led by South Korea’s LG, which is constructing a USD 1.2 billion electric vehicle battery plant with a capacity of 10 GWh in Bekasi, West Java. The location is close to Hyundai Motor’s first manufacturing plant, which is due to be completed by 2021. Batteries produced by the consortium are planned to be utilized by Hyundai’s electric vehicles.
These investments illustrate how Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel producer, is on its way to building a domestic elective vehicle battery industry, aiming to reach a battery capacity of 140 GWh by 2030.
(Sources: Kr Asia; Reuters)
