Latest news with #HuayouCobalt
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Environment fears over $6 billion Indonesia EV battery project: NGOs
Environmental groups raised concerns Thursday over a $6 billion Indonesian EV battery megaproject backed by Chinese giant CATL which is set to open on a once-pristine island, as Jakarta exploits its huge supply of nickel. Indonesia is both the world's largest nickel producer and home to the biggest-known reserves, and a 2020 export ban has spurred a domestic industrial boom. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will inaugurate the project -- also backed by China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Indonesia's state-owned Antam -- in the east of Halmahera in Indonesia's Maluku islands on Sunday. The complex will encompass a process from nickel mining to production of cathodes, state news agency Antara reported. But NGOs say Indonesia and the Chinese firms involved have not given assurances about environmental protections at the site, located just kilometers from a huge industrial park where spikes in pollution and deforestation have been reported. 'CATL, Huayou Cobalt, PT Antam... must commit to respecting the rights of local communities and the environment before breaking ground,' said Brad Adams, executive director at Climate Rights International, in a statement. 'Communities are repressed, forests are cleared, and pollution goes unaddressed with impunity. This is a chance for the Prabowo government to show that it has learned from those failures.' The presidential office did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Halmahera hosts the world's largest nickel mine by production Weda Bay, where operations have grown and sparked reports of widespread environmental damage. Greenpeace Indonesia said the new project carried 'great responsibilities' and the environment and locals 'must not take a back seat' to powering electric vehicles. 'If the environment and the rights of our most vulnerable people are not prioritized now... we will all pay a high price through worsening biodiversity and climate crises,' Arie Rompas, forest campaign team leader at Greenpeace, told AFP. A CRI report this month warned the Indonesian government was allowing environmental damage to go unchecked around Weda Bay. An AFP report last month detailed how the home of the nomadic Hongana Manyawa tribe was being eaten away by the mine.
Arab News
7 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
NGOs: Environment fears over $6 bn Indonesia EV battery project
JAKARTA: Environmental groups raised concerns Thursday over a $6 billion Indonesian EV battery megaproject backed by Chinese giant CATL which is set to open on a once-pristine island, as Jakarta exploits its huge supply of nickel. Indonesia is both the world's largest nickel producer and home to the biggest-known reserves, and a 2020 export ban has spurred a domestic industrial boom. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will inaugurate the project — also backed by China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Indonesia's state-owned Antam — in the east of Halmahera in Indonesia's Maluku islands on Sunday. The complex will encompass a process from nickel mining to production of cathodes, state news agency Antara reported. But NGOs say Indonesia and the Chinese firms involved have not given assurances about environmental protections at the site, located just kilometers from a huge industrial park where spikes in pollution and deforestation have been reported. 'CATL, Huayou Cobalt, PT Antam... must commit to respecting the rights of local communities and the environment before breaking ground,' said Brad Adams, executive director at Climate Rights International, in a statement. 'Communities are repressed, forests are cleared, and pollution goes unaddressed with impunity. This is a chance for the Prabowo government to show that it has learned from those failures.' The presidential office did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Halmahera hosts the world's largest nickel mine by production Weda Bay, where operations have grown and sparked reports of widespread environmental damage. Greenpeace Indonesia said the new project carried 'great responsibilities' and the environment and locals 'must not take a back seat' to powering electric vehicles. 'If the environment and the rights of our most vulnerable people are not prioritized now... we will all pay a high price through worsening biodiversity and climate crises,' Arie Rompas, forest campaign team leader at Greenpeace, told AFP. A CRI report this month warned the Indonesian government was allowing environmental damage to go unchecked around Weda Bay. An AFP report last month detailed how the home of the nomadic Hongana Manyawa tribe was being eaten away by the mine.
South China Morning Post
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Indonesia to keep EV battery goal after LG-led JV's ‘very significant' exit
China is strengthening its hold on Indonesia 's electric vehicle battery sector after a South Korean consortium led by LG announced its exit from a US$7.7 billion project to build a full EV battery supply chain in the Southeast Asian country. Advertisement LG's move – seen by analysts as a blow to Indonesia's aspirations to become a regional batteries hub – has prompted Beijing-backed Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt to step in as the project's new leader. South Korea's LG Energy Solution confirmed on Monday that its consortium, which included LG Chem and LX International, had pulled out of the so-called Grand Package project, citing 'market conditions and investment environment' as key factors. The consortium signed a memorandum of understanding with Jakarta in December 2020 to develop an ecosystem spanning operations from raw materials mining and processing to battery production. On Wednesday, Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia announced that Huayou Cobalt would replace LG Energy Solution in the project, also known as Project Titan. Despite the swap, Bahlil insisted Indonesia would stick to the project's road map. 'Conceptually, the development of the Grand Package has not changed. The infrastructure and production plan remain in accordance with the initial road map. LG is no longer involved and has been replaced by Huayou,' Bahlil said in a statement. Advertisement Changes in investors in grand-scale projects are 'normal', according to Bahlil. 'Nothing has changed from the initial goal, which is to make Indonesia the world's hub for the electric vehicle industry,' he added.
