Jakarta – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR), Arifin Tasrif, revealed that the Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) for nickel production in 2024 is estimated to reach 240 million tons.
“Last year the smelter needed 220 million tons, and this year we are targeting nickel production of 240 million tons,” Arifin said in an official statement, on Monday, August 5.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources projections, battery demand in Indonesia until 2030 will reach 108.2 GWh. To achieve the target of 20 million four-wheeled electric vehicles (EVs), a battery capacity of 780 GWh is required. In contrast, the current domestic smelter capacity is only able to produce raw materials equivalent to 373 GWh. Thus there are still investment opportunities to develop 407 GWh in the EV battery sector.
“We must control the nickel downstream well to provide greater added value, create better jobs, and support the energy transition program to the EV industry,” Arifin said.
With 17 billion tons of nickel resources and 5 billion tons of reserves, Indonesia has great capital to develop the battery industry, both for national and global needs.
The government is also evaluating nickel-based industries that produce low-added value. Arifin said that some industries have entered the sunset phase and are no longer feasible to develop.
“We evaluate to stop the development of new factories that do not provide high added value. We do a moratorium, stop first, there should be no more,” he explained.
One of the low-value-added products in the spotlight is nickel pig iron (NPI) produced by smelters with Rotary Kiln Electric Furnace (RKEF) technology. “Looking at international demand, the Ministry of Industry has agreed that there will be no new additions to RKEF and NPI,” Arifin said.
According to him, with these measures, the government hopes to accelerate the development of the battery and electric vehicle industries in Indonesia, while ensuring that nickel resources are optimally utilised to support economic growth and energy transition. (Hartatik)
