By Lambok Dominikus
China’s manufacturer of cathode and anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, BTR New Materials Group Co Ltd (BTR) has started construction of an anode production facility at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi Province, a senior government official said.
“BTR is currently building an anode production facility in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park with production capacity of 80,000 tons (per annum),” said Septian Hario Seto, Deputy for Mining of the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment, at an EV ecosystem conference in Hannover, Germany, on Wednesday.
He said that once completed, the BTR facility, which will process synthetic graphite into anode materials, will help form an EV battery ecosystem in the country as other companies such as China Tsingshan is developing the battery cathode facility, while another Chinese firm Hailiang Group will manufacture copper foil for EV battery.
Read also: BTR to develop lithium battery anode project in Morowali
Seto did not say when the BTR facility will be completed. BTR, one of the world's largest battery anode producers, is teaming up with Stellar Investment Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Tsingshan, in the estimated US$478 million anode plant project. BTR holds a 70 percent stake in the project.
The negative pole of an EV battery is known as the anode, while the positive pole is known as the cathode. The anode is made of graphite, and the cathode is made of lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese/aluminum.
The Indonesian government is seeking to develop a domestic EV battery ecosystem as part of its ambition to turn the country into an EV hub, capitalizing on the country’s huge nickel reserves as well as other key minerals including copper and bauxite.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
