Indonesia proposes Batang regency location for Tesla Gigafactory, says green energy readily available for it

Indonesia proposes Batang regency location for Tesla Gigafactory, says green energy readily available for it

Indonesia’s discussions with Tesla to build an assembly plant in the archipelago have been going on for a good while. In March, it was reported that talks had fallen through, only to restart in April, culminating in a meeting in May between Indonesian president Joko Widodo and Tesla CEO Elon Musk at SpaceX’s facility in Texas, where Musk said he would visit the country in November this year.

Last month, Bahlil Lahadalia, the country’s minister of investment and head of the Indonesian investment coordinating board was reported to have said that Tesla had agreed to build a battery and EV factory at an industrial complex in the Central Java province, although no details were provided.

The talk hasn’t abated, and the wooing continues with the promise of green energy. Last week, Luhut Pandjaitan, the country’s coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister, said the government has proposed to Tesla for it to build an EV assembly plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 units near Batang regency in Central Java.

He said the location was suitable because it is near geothermal power sources that would be able to provide green energy to the proposed Gigafactory, the Jakarta Post reports.

State-owned Geo Dipa Energi runs geothermal power facilities in the region, and with development estimates that it will be able to supply 400 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. During a meeting with Indonesian lawmakers, Luhut said that this could be channeled to the proposed Tesla factory.

Apart from Batang, Luhut said the carmaker had shown interest in the North Kalimantan Green Industrial Park, which has been under construction since December last year. The industrial park is set to get power from hydropower and solar power plants that will be developed near the site.

Luhut also told lawmakers that Tesla had shown interest in developing the semiconductor industry in Indonesia, but did not divulge details about a possible Tesla investment or on the status of negotiations, saying the government had signed a confidentiality agreement with the company.

However, he stated that the government was intent on having Tesla build its cars in the country. “While Thailand has just become an agent [of Tesla EV cars], we do not want the same. We want to become a producer,” he said.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • dimitriy on Jun 16, 2022 at 11:49 am

    Pulau JAWA kan sudah mahu tenggelam? sebab tu ibu negara Indonesia akan berpindah ke Pulau Kalimantan, selain faktor-faktor lain la.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 8
    • akmdne on Jun 16, 2022 at 1:08 pm

      The island of Java is almost as wide as a malay peninsula, don’t easily believe fake news. The relocation of the capital had many factors, and the sinking problem was only one of them.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
    • akmdne on Jun 16, 2022 at 1:12 pm

      Don’t believe fake news! The island of Java is vast, almost as wide as the Malay Peninsula. And the reason for moving the capital city had many factors and sinking problem was only one of them.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • LOL Hahaha Joker still trying to fish an uninterested Elon! He is too busy with Twitter saga to care about a backwater location halfway from his home not bothered even thinking to setup his Gigafactory there. Bang head also Joker still does not understand what Elon wants; HE WANTS YOUR FREAKING MINERALS! And at best he might get his battery supplier to setup shop here and use those minerals for battery production but it is really about THE MINERALS YOU FOOLS! HAHAHAHA!!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 6
  • AutoNoob on Jun 16, 2022 at 2:01 pm

    We Malaysians can only watch our neighbours jealously from afar. Malaysia is more stable without earthquakes, volcanoes, etc and is way ahead with semiconductors companies ST Micro, Infineon, etc with local presence supplying high tech microchips to Apple. Our auto industry is also way more developed with high tech cars like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo and now Porsche. Looks like our government is either not stable enough or just not doing enough to attract foreign investments. Our future is not looking too bright for us. Soon we will see our top minds leaving also to Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, etc.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 5
    • Make Malaysia Great Again on Jun 16, 2022 at 5:48 pm

      We Malaysians should be looking at ID4.0 rather than being jealous of Indonesia still holding onto ID3.0. I totally disagree, our Govt are focused to attract a different FDI that would spur our ID4.0 the age of chasing after FDI to setup factories here are well past and we should pass that era already without looking back with jealousy. Throw out that negative thinking, you might be looking at our nation as glass half empty but others are looking at it as half full. Rather than gripping hard onto ID3.0 we should be embracing ID4.0 instead. After the political turmoil of May 2018, it is time we Make Malaysia Great Again.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 2
  • Really see Indonesia has improved a lot recent years. The corruption also reduce unlike Malaysia. The major corruptors still can be boss and set up the allianced parties.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 6
    • Contradiction on Jun 20, 2022 at 5:34 pm

      Corruption is what sells the country, why else would these FDIs go to Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • dinosaur on Jun 16, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    Malaysian are in fact a bunch of lazy and undetermined , and protected species of dinosaur in Asia.
    Why Malaysian is undeniable lazy and pride driven egoistic are all imprinted in their superficial mindset.
    Wake up wake up.. the world around malaysian is taking over everything, except been creative in Lazy work and Short cuts to make more money through the lazy mind. Isn’t it is all run by a bunch of Jurassic people. Where is the dinosaur? Well is the big elephant in the room…. no is the Dino…saur… Work Hard and Stop thinking & taking short cut… Train a new mnind set.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 3
 

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