BKPM Promotes Low-Carbon Downstreaming, Boosting EV Value Chain and Biofuel

The Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is encouraging low-carbon industrial downstreaming to realise a clean and value-added green energy ecosystem.

Mohammad Rudy Salahuddin, Secretary General of the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM, stated that the government is preparing strategic steps towards an efficient and value-added industrial ecosystem through the downstreaming of natural resources.

“This downstreaming is carried out by entering the processing and refining of natural resources, then expanding into materials and components, until producing low-carbon products,” Rudy explained during the 2045 Green Economy National Seminar at the Aryaduta Hotel Menteng, Jakarta, on Tuesday (29/09/2026).

As part of this downstreaming agenda, BKPM has reportedly mapped 28 strategic commodities across eight main sectors, with a potential investment of US$618 billion through to 2040.

The growth in trade for electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries is currently viewed as a positive momentum to drive low-carbon downstreaming. Rudy noted that data from the UN Comtrade Environmental Goods List recorded the trade of electric vehicles and batteries increasing from US$90 billion in 2019 to almost US$450 billion last year.

Rudy is optimistic that Indonesia possesses a sufficiently strong foundation to enter this market, particularly considering the national renewable energy potential, which reaches 3,687 gigawatts (GW), with solar power contributing 3,294 GW.

However, Rudy continued, the capacity of renewable energy currently utilised is less than 0.5% of the total potential, amounting to only about 16.3 GW.

“Therefore, the investment space is still very large, both in power plants, networks, energy storage, and its supporting industries,” he concluded.