Prabowo launches first EV battery exports and 11 projects at IWIP
Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Prabowo Subianto launched the first exports of electric-vehicle batteries and 11 industrial projects at the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, on Thursday.
“By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, today I, President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, launch the first exports of electric-vehicle batteries and four industrial projects entering the commercial stage,” the President said.
The launch was marked by the President sounding a siren, accompanied by National Economic Council Chair Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition Bahlil Lahadalia, Investment and Downstreaming Minister and Danantara chief executive Rosan Roeslani, and executives from the companies involved in the projects.
The four projects entering commercial operation are Blue Sparking Energy, REPT Battero Indonesia, Pioneer Aluminium Industries and XCMG Indonesia Manufacturing.
The President also launched the groundbreaking of seven new industrial projects at IWIP: Guangqing Nickel Cobalt, Eno Prima Material, Tinci Materials Indonesia, Weda Bay Aluminium, Bintang Karya Aluminium, Flat Solar Energy Indonesia and Guangqing Motor Indonesia.
The projects being launched have a combined investment value of US$10.2 billion, or around Rp180 trillion.
Investment and Downstreaming Minister Rosan Roeslani said in his report that the four projects commencing commercial operations were worth US$3.4 billion, or around Rp60 trillion, while the projects beginning construction were valued at US$6.8 billion.
According to Rosan, the projects include nickel-based battery materials, separators and electrolytes for electric-vehicle batteries, electrolytic aluminium, electric trucks for mining and industry, and photovoltaic glass for the solar energy industry.
The projects are expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.
The contribution of downstreaming to total investment has risen from 25 per cent to 35 per cent over the past two years, with more than 75 per cent of the investment realised outside Java.
Rosan said the manufacturing industry in North Maluku accounts for almost half of the province’s gross domestic product.
North Maluku recorded a trade surplus of 31.1 trillion [unit] in 2025, dominated by processed nickel products such as ferronickel, nickel matte, mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), nickel sulphate and cobalt.
IWIP is now home to 52 tenants from various countries, including Glencore and Trafigura. Since 2018, the industrial park has attracted US$20 billion in investment; with an additional approximately US$7 billion, the total will reach US$27 billion. It employs 117,000 people.
Exports from the industrial park are valued at US$11 billion. Combined with the Morowali Industrial Park, exports total US$28 billion, or around 10 per cent of Indonesia’s exports.
IWIP’s installed and under-construction power capacity exceeds 7.1 gigawatts. Together with Morowali, capacity is around 8.8 gigawatts, bringing the total to 15.9 gigawatts—higher than Singapore’s electricity consumption of 13.1 gigawatts, Rosan said.
The industrial park’s corporate social responsibility programmes reach 32 villages around the industrial and mining areas, with funding of more than Rp650 billion.
Rosan said a complete electric-vehicle battery ecosystem, including battery recycling, would place Indonesia in the global supply chain.
He added that Tsingshan had spoken with Danantara about participating in the 100-gigawatt solar-panel programme.