Construction of the CATL EV Battery Plant is targeted for completion in 2026.

KatadataOTO – The construction of the electric vehicle battery factory in Karawang, a collaboration between Antam-IBC-CATL-CBL inaugurated by Prabowo Subianto, President of Indonesia, is targeted for completion next year. Meanwhile, production is planned to start at the end of 2026.

The facility is believed to be capable of producing 5.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries per year in 2026. However, that number will increase to 15 GWh when fully operational in 2028, or the equivalent of 300,000 car units.

“We are inaugurating the construction of an electric battery factory with a capacity of 15 GWh. If converted to car batteries, that amount is equivalent to 250,000 to 300,000 vehicles,” said Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), as reported by Antara (29/06).

This large amount is expected to meet the needs of both domestic and international EV markets in the future.

Photo: Carscoops

Not only making electric batteries, Bahlil also projects that a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will be built in the area. The facility will later be used to store electrical energy from solar panels.

He emphasized that investors have agreed to develop BESS so that all products are domestic.

It should be noted that President Prabowo Subianto has just laid the first stone for the construction of the Integrated Electric Vehicle Battery Industry Ecosystem project by the Antam-IBC-CBL Consortium in the Artha Industrial Hills (AIH) Area, in Karawang, West Java.

The Integrated Electric Battery Industry Ecosystem project by the Antam-IBC-CBL Consortium is an upstream to downstream industrial development. It includes six integrated projects jointly developed by PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam), Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC), and the CATL, Brunp, and Lygend (CBL) consortium.

Of the six projects, five are being developed in the FHT East Halmahera Area. While the rest are being carried out in Karawang, West Java.

Photo: Nissan

The battery factory in Karawang stands on a 43-hectare area of land and is operated by PT Contemporary Amperex Technology Indonesia Battery (CATIB). The company is a collaboration between IBC and CBL, a subsidiary of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL).

With this factory, the development of electric vehicles in Indonesia can be more optimal. This is because automotive manufacturers can more easily obtain components and increase the local content level (TKDN) of their production.