Karawang — President Prabowo Subianto expressed great optimism about the future of national energy. He believes that Indonesia is capable of achieving energy self-sufficiency within the next six years. He emphasized this belief when inaugurating the groundbreaking of the Integrated Electric Battery Industry Ecosystem Project in Karawang, West Java.
“I was told by experts that our nation can truly be self-sufficient in energy. And my calculation is not long, not long. Five years, at the latest six years, we can be self-sufficient in energy,” Prabowo said.
The President explained that the key to energy independence lies in the nation’s ability to produce electricity independently, especially from new renewable energy sources such as solar power.
“And electricity from solar power, yes the key is the battery. This is a strategic element in ensuring the efficiency and sustainability of electricity utilization from solar power,” Prabowo stressed.
Furthermore, the President considered the electric vehicle battery industry ecosystem project in Karawang as a historic and strategic step towards national energy independence. This project is being carried out by ANTAM, IBC, and the international consortium CATL, Brunp, and Lygend (CBL), with other integrated developments also taking place in East Halmahera, North Maluku.
“Today we witnessed, earlier the report produced 15 gigawatts. We need, if I’m not mistaken the experts reported to me, to be truly independent we need maybe 100 gigawatts,” Prabowo said.
The President assessed that the target requires expansion and acceleration of ongoing projects. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of duplicating similar projects in order to realize sustainable national energy security.
“It can be said that this is an extraordinary breakthrough. This project may have to be doubled,” he said.
Similarly, ESDM Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said that the initial battery production capacity is targeted to reach 6.9 GWh by the end of 2026 and increase to 15 GWh. This capacity is estimated to be sufficient to support the production of up to 300 thousand electric cars and significantly reduce fuel imports.
“This can save fuel imports of around 300 thousand kiloliters per year, if only 15 GWh. Our target, here with the market that has increased for PLTS batteries, (the capacity) can reach 40 GWh,” concluded Bahlil.
The Integrated Electric Battery Industry Ecosystem Project involves a total investment of USD 5.9 billion. Of this amount, USD 1.2 billion is focused on ecosystem development in Karawang, while USD 4.7 billion is directed to five integrated projects in East Halmahera. ***
