"This is the dream of Mr. President, who always directs us, ministers, to build downstreaming. What Mr. President has said so far is not just talk but this is real evidence. This really uses high technology, and Indonesian children will be operating it later. We sent more than 100 of them to Korea for them to study there," Lahadalia noted in a statement in Jakarta, Friday.
While accompanying President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to visit the EV battery production facility owned by PT Hyundai LG Indonesia (HLI) Green Power in Karawang, West Java, Thursday (Sept 14), Lahadalia stated that investment in the battery cell factory for EV had reached a total of US$3.1 billion, or Rp54.88 trillion, which is integrated with the Grand Package upstream-downstream battery project.
The production facility currently being built in the Karawang New Industry City (KNIC) is the first of the two phases planned by PT HLI Green Power.
The first phase of the construction required investment worth US$1.1 billion, or Rp16.28 trillion, with a production capacity of 10 GWh.
Until mid-2023, the company was able to employ one thousand Indonesian workers, with a commercial production target in April 2024.
For the second phase, the construction will begin in January 2024 and commercial production will begin in March 2025, with a production capacity of 20 GWh.
The investment value is US$2 billion, or Rp29.60 trillion, and is estimated to employ 2,800 Indonesian workers.
"Thank God, two years ago, precisely today, we carried out groundbreaking on the construction of car batteries, battery cells, and two years later, it is ready. This factory applies the latest technology from LG. Of the five factories owned by LG in the world, this is the factory in Indonesia that uses the latest technology," Lahadalia remarked.
CEO of PT HLI Green Power William Hong commended the support given by both the Indonesian and Korean governments. According to Hong, the company's success in realizing investment projects in Karawang cannot be separated from the government's support.
"Exactly two years ago, President Jokowi and Minister Bahlil came here for the groundbreaking, and two years after that this factory was completed and being able to carry out trial production like this really touched me," Hong stated.
PT HLI Green Power is a joint venture company between Hyundai Motor Company, LG Energy Solution, and PT Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC).
PT HLI Green Power's investment is a follow-up to the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Investment/BKPM and the Hyundai, LG and IBC Consortium on July 28, 2021. This agreement is part of the joint efforts to intensify investment that will support the development of the EV ecosystem in Indonesia.
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Translator: Ade Irma Junida, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Sri Haryati
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