Indonesia ships its first EV batteries from Weda Bay as the park plans its clean power build-out

Indonesia crossed a threshold in its energy transition industry on Thursday 8 October 2026. At the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, President Prabowo Subianto sounded an industrial siren to release the country's first export shipment of electric vehicle batteries. In the same ceremony he launched 11 downstream projects with a combined value of US$10.2 billion, or about Rp180 trillion.

For a country that until recently exported most of its nickel as ore or intermediate product, the shipment marks a move further up the value chain. It also raises a practical question that Sirkularium considers central to the next phase: how a park whose power demand already rivals a mid-sized country will source cleaner electricity as it grows.

A shipment, four plants online and seven more breaking ground

The 11 projects fall into two groups. Four facilities, valued at about US$3.4 billion according to The Jakarta Post, entered commercial operation. They are Blue Sparking Energy, which processes nickel into mixed hydroxide precipitate; REPT Battero Indonesia, the battery maker; Pioneer Aluminium Industries, which produces electrolytic aluminium; and XCMG Indonesia Manufacturing, which builds components for electric heavy equipment.

Seven further plants, valued at about US$6.8 billion, broke ground. They include Guangqing Nickel Cobalt, Eno Prima Material, Tinci Materials Indonesia, Weda Bay Aluminium, Bintang Karya Aluminium, Flat Solar Energy Indonesia and Guangqing Motor Indonesia. Outlets spell some of these names differently; The Jakarta Post, for example, lists Guang Ching Nickel Cobalt and Inno Prima Material.

Rosan Roeslani, Minister of Investment and Downstreaming and Danantara chief executive, summarised the product range. The new facilities will make nickel-based battery materials, battery separators and electrolytes, electrolytic aluminium, electric heavy trucks and photovoltaic glass. That last item matters for the energy sector. It places a component of solar module manufacturing inside the same park that produces battery cells.

Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition Bahlil Lahadalia, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and National Economic Council Chairman Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan attended the launch.

"The first export of electric vehicle batteries today is a notable milestone." President Prabowo Subianto, IWIP, 8 October 2026

The numbers behind the battery plant

The centrepiece is REPT Battero's cell and energy storage plant. Periskop.id reports that the facility was designed with an initial capacity of 8 GWh from March 2026, rising to 20 GWh by 2027. REPT's own first-half 2026 report, as cited by CNBC Indonesia Research, describes a first-phase plan of 8 GWh a year covering electric vehicle batteries, energy storage systems and related products. These are design capacities rather than confirmed output, and none of the sources disclosed the volume or destination of the first shipment.

The group behind the plant is now a significant global player. SNE Research data for January to August 2026, published on 2 October and summarised by CNBC Indonesia, ranked REPT tenth worldwide with 20.3 GWh of batteries installed in vehicles, up 126.3 percent year on year. The global market over the same period reached 844.2 GWh, an increase of 19.7 percent. The 20.3 GWh figure reflects REPT's worldwide sales, not output from Indonesia.

Upstream, the park already hosts PT Huaneng New Material, designed to produce 50,000 tonnes a year of nickel cobalt manganese hydroxide precursor. Indonesia produced about 2.6 million tonnes of nickel in 2025, roughly 66.7 percent of world output, according to USGS data cited by Periskop.id. Moving from ore and precursor to finished cells is what turns that resource base into energy transition products.

On the park as a whole, reported figures differ by date. Prabowo and Rosan put realised investment at around US$20 billion with a further US$7 billion in the pipeline, and employment at more than 100,000 people. Periskop.id cites earlier figures of about US$15 billion by early 2025 and more than 81,000 Indonesian workers at that point. The difference reflects growth over time rather than a contradiction.

Power demand on the scale of a country

The launch also brought a striking figure on electricity. Rosan said the combined power needs of IWIP and the Morowali industrial area now exceed the whole of Singapore. IWIP accounts for 7.1 GW installed or under construction and Morowali for 8.8 GW, a combined 15.9 GW, compared with total Singapore demand of about 13.1 GW.

That scale is the reason energy policy and industrial policy now meet at Weda Bay. Kompas reported in January 2026 that the park's supply is currently anchored by coal units: eight of 380 MW and six of 250 MW, around 4 GW in total. IWIP management has described renewables as a phased complement that will gradually reduce coal use.

The planned complement is substantial. IWIP has outlined a green energy programme of about US$2 billion, including solar capacity of up to 2 GW and wind capacity of up to 500 MW, developed in stages. Periskop.id reports that several wind turbines began construction in June 2026, with some already connected to the park's internal grid. Installed rooftop and car park solar stood at about 4.5 MW in January 2026. The park also uses electric trucks to haul nickel and is developing waste to energy.

Rosan added a further signal. Tsingshan, the main shareholder group behind Weda Bay, is in discussion with Danantara about joining the national 100 GW solar programme, a matter he said would be taken up with the Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition.

Why this matters for industrial decarbonisation

Battery buyers increasingly ask how their cells were made, not only what they cost. Carbon footprint declarations for batteries are moving from voluntary practice to market requirement in several destination markets. A plant that can document a falling grid emission factor gains a commercial advantage that compounds over time.

Weda Bay is therefore a test of whether Indonesia can pair downstream manufacturing with cleaner process energy. The ingredients are already present in one place. There is a battery plant that can supply storage, a photovoltaic glass project that can feed module supply, a planned 2 GW solar fleet, wind turbines under construction and an electric heavy vehicle maker on site. Few industrial clusters in the region combine all of these.

Prabowo also directed park operators to meet strict standards for air quality, water safety and waste management. Those commitments align well with an energy efficiency agenda. Every kilowatt hour saved in smelting, refining and cell assembly reduces both cost and emissions at the same time.

Sirkularium's view: the battery shipment proves the manufacturing case. The clean power build-out is what will prove the decarbonisation case, and both can advance together.

Sirkularium's read for government and public institutions

For policymakers, the launch offers a clear opportunity to link investment incentives with measurable energy outcomes. Four practical steps follow.

First, treat industrial park power as a planning priority in its own right. With 15.9 GW of demand concentrated in two parks, the 100 GW solar programme and the renewable energy pipeline under the new Coordinating Ministry for Downstreaming and Energy Transition could set specific allocations, milestones and grid integration support for these clusters.

Second, encourage on-site energy storage from local cell production. A park that makes energy storage systems is well placed to firm its own solar and wind output, which lowers the integration cost of variable renewables.

Third, support transparent energy and emission reporting at plant level. Kemenperin's industrial decarbonisation roadmap and SIINas reporting already provide a framework. Extending it to battery and aluminium plants would help exporters meet buyer requirements and give government a clear baseline.

Fourth, connect energy efficiency financing to these new facilities from day one. Efficiency is cheapest when designed in, before equipment is installed.

What to watch next: confirmation of REPT Battero's production ramp toward 20 GWh, the first commissioning dates for IWIP's solar and wind capacity, the product specification of Flat Solar Energy Indonesia's photovoltaic glass plant, and whether Tsingshan formally joins the 100 GW solar programme. Each would show that Indonesia's battery industry is being built on an increasingly clean energy base.