Indonesia ships first EV batteries from Weda Bay nickel hub

Top image: Photo: Muhammad ECTOR Prasetyo from Pamiers, Toulouse, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday, 8 October, launched what the government called Indonesia’s first export of electric vehicle batteries. The shipment came from the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, a nickel processing hub. He launched it at a virtual ceremony, together with a package of industrial projects that officials valued at about Rp180 trillion (US$10.2 billion), Antara reported.

“This is concrete proof that our downstreaming policy is on the right track,” Prabowo said, as quoted by Antara.

Four projects go commercial, seven break ground

Four projects at the park entered commercial operation. According to Bisnis.com, they are:

• PT REPT Battero Indonesia, the battery exporter, which makes nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries;
• PT Blue Sparking Energy, which exports mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), an intermediate nickel product used in battery supply chains;
• PT Pioneer Aluminium Industries, which makes aluminium products;
• PT XCMG Indonesia Manufacturing, which makes heavy equipment.

Construction began on seven more projects, including nickel-cobalt, battery materials, aluminium and solar glass plants, and a vehicle plant listed as Guangqing Motor Indonesia. OtoDream reported that the four commercial projects represent about US$3.4 billion of investment and the seven new ones about US$6.8 billion. The government expects them to create more than 10,000 jobs. Investment minister Rosan Roeslani, who also heads the Danantara sovereign fund, said the projects cover battery materials, battery separators and electrolytes, aluminium, electric mining and industrial trucks, and photovoltaic glass.

What was actually shipped is not yet clear

None of the reports we reviewed gave the destination, volume or value of the first battery shipment. Accounts also differ on what was exported. Bisnis.com describes REPT Battero’s product as NMC and LFP batteries. detikFinance calls them battery raw materials, which could mean components rather than finished cells. The two outlets also describe Pioneer Aluminium’s product differently, as electrolytic aluminium (Bisnis.com) or aluminium electrolytic capacitors (detikFinance).

REPT Battero is a Chinese battery maker. In January 2025 it announced plans for an 8 GWh cell factory in Indonesia aimed mainly at stationary energy storage. In May this year it said it expected Indonesian local-content (TKDN) and national standard (SNI) certification and had signed deals with makers of passenger and commercial EVs, ESS News reported. So it is possible that some of the first exports were energy-storage batteries rather than packs for cars or motorbikes.

Why it matters

The government’s downstreaming policy aims to process nickel at home into higher-value products rather than shipping raw ore, and battery exports are the step it has long promised. The Weda Bay launch follows phased operations at the CATL–IBC battery plant in Karawang. Our guide to Indonesia’s battery industry explains how the pieces fit together.

What it means for buyers: do not expect any immediate effect on showroom prices. In the longer term, more cells and battery materials made in Indonesia would make it easier for carmakers to meet the 60% local-content requirement from 2027, which decides whether EVs qualify for tax incentives. Whether batteries made at Weda Bay end up in cars sold in Indonesia, or mainly go abroad, is a question to watch.

Follow-up: Experts have since raised questions about the coal-heavy power supply behind the Weda Bay and Morowali parks. Read Nickel parks’ 15.9 GW power base, mostly coal, raises EV battery questions.

Related: Imported EVs could hit 60% local content with local batteries, ministry says

Update, 14 October 2026: the government is now weighing a moratorium on new smelters that make semi-finished nickel. Read more: Indonesia weighs halt to new semi-finished nickel smelters amid glut.

Sources: Antara; Bisnis.com; detikFinance; OtoDream; Energy-Storage.news; ESS News.