Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) plans to explore developing alternative clean energy in Indonesia, an official in Jakarta said. Indonesia has reversed a statement the company denied that EGA was planning to build a nuclear power plant in the Southeast Asian country, reported by Reuters.
Indonesia’s economy ministry issued a new statement, replacing its previous statement that EGA was planning to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 5 gigawatts. The move is needed to try to address a shortage of low-carbon electricity that has hampered efforts to expand the capacity of an aluminium smelter in North Sumatra.
EGA has agreed to help increase production capacity
But an EGA spokesman said in an email that the company is not involved in nuclear power, so the description of that aspect was inaccurate. EGA reiterated its interest in Indonesia’s development. Indonesia currently has no nuclear power.
EGA has agreed in 2022 to help boost production capacity to 400,000 tonnes per year at a smelter owned by state-owned Indonesia Asahan Aluminium. Indonesia is trying to develop its mineral processing industry by attracting investment based on its rich reserves of minerals such as nickel, copper and bauxite.
Floating solar power plant on a reservoir
Indonesia’s Senior Economic Minister Airlangga Hartartho and EGA CEO Abdulnasser Ibrahim Saif bin Kalban met in Dubai to discuss the development of the aluminium industry. Airlangga, who was in Dubai to attend the World Government Summit, also met with Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive of the UAE’s state-owned renewable energy company Masdar. They discussed their projects in Indonesia, including a 145-megawatt floating solar power plant on a reservoir in West Java province and the development of a gas pipeline from Aceh to East Java.