Indonesia’s EV Ambitions Boosted by New BTR Battery Anode Plant

(Bloomberg) -- China’s BTR New Material Group opened a $478 million anode material plant in Indonesia, the first for a country that’s pushing to become a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles.

Work on the factory, located in Kendal Industrial Park in Central Java, started in 2023 and operations began Wednesday, according to a statement from Indonesia’s Presidential Secretariat. It has an initial capacity of 80,000 tons of anode material a year, enough to supply 1.5 million electric cars, according to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The completion of the project marks an important step toward Indonesia’s goal to build out a complete supply chain for electric vehicles, a key aim of the outgoing president. The government has looked to leverage its vast production of nickel, a key ingredient for some batteries, to draw in foreign investors to the EV sector.

“What we have dreamed of — a big EV ecosystem that is strong and integrated — is starting to materialize,” Widodo said at the plant’s inauguration on Wednesday. “If all of the ecosystem is built, we will enter the global supply chain which can give us value add in employment and the economy.”

BTR will begin the next phase of the plant’s development later this year, expanding capacity to 180,000 tons, said He Xueqin, chairman of BTR New Material, said on Wednesday. That would make Indonesia the world’s second biggest anode producer, he said.

Anodes — which sit opposite the cathodes — are an essential part of EV batteries and are typically made of graphite. The Indonesian plant will source artificial graphite from the state oil company PT Pertamina and natural graphite from Africa.

BTR New Material, which is affiliated with China Baoan Group Co. Ltd., holds 60% of ownership of the new factory. Singapore Stellar Investment Pte. Ltd holds the rest.

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