A US$1.8 billion loan has been secured by Merdeka Battery Materials for the construction of a high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant in Indonesia. The facility will produce nickel materials that will be used in the manufacture of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Merdeka Battery will be located in Indonesia at the Morowali Industrial Park in Central Sulawesi. Furthermore, it will be operated by PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt (SLNC). It will have an annual production capacity of 90,000 tonnes of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP). Construction on the facility began last month. The company is aiming to begin operation in around 18 months.
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Details on the Merdeka Battery HPAL facility in Indonesia
The laterite nickel ore will be sourced from Merdeka Battery’s subsidiary PT Sulawesi Cahaya Mineral, operator. It is one of the world’s largest nickel mines and contains nearly 13.8 million tonnes of nickel and one million tonnes of cobalt. Further, the nickel producer’s affiliate PT Merdeka Energi Baru owns 50.1% of Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt. “SLNC’s HPAL plant is MBM’s strategic initiative to maximise the value of our abundant nickel resources,” said Merdeka Battery Materials president director Teddy Oetomo in the press release. “It is expected to result in a more than twofold increase in the company’s annual MHP production capacity.”
Project Overview
Location: Central Sulawesi, Indonesia
Developer: Merdeka Battery Materials
Operator: PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt
Completion date: 2026
What’s more, the Merdeka Battery HPAL Indonesia plant will be adjacent to another high-pressure acid leach facility. The unit is operated by PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt, a Chinese joint venture led by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co Ltd. Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt has obtained funding and signed loan agreements with a number of banks. These include the publicly listed Bank Permata as well as state-owned lenders Bank Negara Indonesia. Bank Mandiri, and Bank Rakyat Indonesia. Furthermore, Merdeka Battery previously partnered with China’s GEM Co Ltd to develop two other HPAL plants at Morowali’s industrial park. The two facilities have a total annual production capacity of 55,000 tonnes of MHP.
