LG to establish $1.2bn battery plant in Indonesia

South Korea-based LG will open a new $1.2bn battery factory in Bekasi, Indonesia, in collaboration with the state-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation.

South Korea-based multinational conglomerate LG is set to open a new battery plant in Bekasi, Indonesia, with the state-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation. The $1.2bn facility will have a capacity of ten gigawatt hours (GWh), which will then be used for Hyundai’s electric vehicles (EVs).

The factory opening forms part of a $9.8bn EV deal between LG and Indonesia signed in 2020. The LG consortium consists of different LG units including LG Chem, LG Energy Solution and LG International as well as South Korea-based steelmaking company POSCO and China-based cobalt company Huayou Holdings.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, an essential component in lithium batteries, and aims to eventually become a global hub for producing and exporting EVs. Indonesia aims to produce 140GWh-worth of batteries by 2030.