OREANDA-NEWS South Korean companies Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solutions have opened the first battery factory for electric vehicles in Indonesia worth $1.1 billion, according to a joint press release.

The construction of the plant in Karawang, near the capital Jakarta, was announced in 2021. It will produce batteries with a combined capacity of 10 GWh per year. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of nickel, which is used in rechargeable batteries.

"We have a lot of natural resources, but we have been exporting them as raw materials for decades without creating added value," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said at the opening ceremony of the plant. "Now, after the construction of metallurgical enterprises and the opening of a battery factory, we will become an important global player in the field of electric vehicles."

The companies will begin construction of the second line of the plant at a cost of $2 billion and a capacity of 20 GWh per year. In total, Hyundai and LG plan to invest $9.8 billion in the development of infrastructure for the production of electric vehicles in Indonesia. Hyundai already owns an electric car assembly plant in the country, which can produce up to 250 thousand cars per year.