Photo: Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan/Instagram

Indonesia invited Elon Musk to build a battery factory in one of its industrial areas. The country proposes to use renewable energy and gas to make the production of Tesla products environmentally friendly.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of Indonesia Luhut Binsar Panjaitan has proposed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk consider a green industrial area in North Kalimantan (Kaltara) to build a battery factory, according to local news publication Suara. He said that the largest green industrial area in the world will be able to realize Musk's commitment to malong products in an environmentally friendly way.

The industrial zone in Kaltar is considered the largest integrated industrial zone in the world and covers up to 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres). The industrial park will receive power from hydropower and solar power plants. According to plans, producers of high-tech and precision products such as semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, industrial silicon, and “green aluminum” will locate their production facilities there.

“This is one part of my negotiations with Tesla. Negotiations with Tesla are not easy. I said, ‘Elon, if you want to go all the way, get an eco-friendly battery product, get an eco-friendly car product, this is the place to be,’” Luhut said at the 2022 Naval Technology College National Seminar (STTAL).

He explained that the potential of the area is 10,000 MW of electricity from hydroelectric power, 10,000 MW of electricity from solar panels, and 2.9 trillion cubic feet of gas. “This is what will change or transform Indonesia. Later, we will have the largest integrated industry in North Kalimantan,” the minister said.

The construction of the industrial zone in Kaltara began in December 2021. “Indonesia's economic transformation starts here where we will manage our natural resources from the upstream to downstream to create massive job availability,” said President of Indonesia Joko Widodo during the construction launch event.

Before construction began, the project for the area took about 5 to 6 years to develop, Luhut said. “This is a breakthrough. Five or six years ago, I started this project, I reviewed it. Now we will have the largest petrochemistry in the world. This is a total of 132 billion US dollars for this entire project,” he said.

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