NBRI: Battery Becomes Key Technology In Energy Transition In Indonesia

JAKARTA - National Battery Research Institute (NBRI) founder Evvy Kartini said that batteries are the key technology in the energy transition in Indonesia.

"Talking about batteries, being the main thing, is the key to technology towards NZE (net zero emissions)," Evvy said during an International Battery Summit (IBS) 2023 press conference in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, August 1.

The Indonesian Embassy in collaboration with the Indonesian Nickel Miners Association (APNI) and Queen Mary University of London, England held the IBS 2023 on August 1-2 2023 in Jakarta.

IBS 2023, which has the theme Battery as a core technology for accelerating clean energy transition, aims to bring together industry, government and public parties to discuss the implementation of the battery and electric vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia in the future.

IBS 2023 discusses the main topics regarding the latest battery projects and industries in Indonesia and internationally from upstream, central to downstream.

"Indonesia is rich in mineral resources, we need not only nickel, we also need manganese, we need cobalt, in Indonesia. Then how can Indonesia make its own battery manufacturing in Indonesia," continued Evvy.

Therefore, he said, at IBS 2023 there were also battery manufacturing actors from China and from South Korea.

"So later on in this Summit there will be no battery manufacturing players in Indonesia, even though there is no one yet, that's why we cooperated with China BAK so that we can learn to collaborate later, there is also LG, from Korea as well," said Evvy.

In addition, he said, the IBS 2023 will also discuss battery recycling so that it will not cause environmental problems.

"We will also talk about recycling, this is important. So the economic circular is after becoming a battery, the battery will be used. Don't let there be environmental problems regarding used batteries. So, it needs to be recycled," said Evvy.

Meanwhile, Assistant Deputy for Mining of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) Tubagus Nugraha hopes that the implementation of the 2023 IBS can develop a much better battery industry in Indonesia.

"When we talk upstream, we will see that what we are doing is especially for nickel, we have opened two lanes. The first route, we have worked a lot on stainless steel," said Tubagus.

He revealed that the export value of stainless steel Indonesia in 2014 was only worth 1 billion US dollars. Then, by the end of 2022, it had reached 32 billion US dollars.

"That is the fruit of a policy rather than nickel for the stainless steel route. Then, we will open it with market demands, there is a need for batteries, there is a need for nickel, there is a need for coal. Many investors have come here to open HPAL (high pressure acid learning) facilities and until now there are indeed some that have been running," he said.

He noted that so far there have been 200 thousand tons of MHP products that have been produced at HPAL facilities in Indonesia.

"In Morowali (Central Sulawesi), there is Obi Island (North Maluku) and maybe those on Obi Island have moved more to the right and more downstream, there is nickel sulfate there and will continue to move downstream so that then form an ecosystem battery in Indonesia," said Tubagus.