Britishvolt and Bakrie's VKTR team up for sustainable EV battery nickel

LG

29/03/2022 24:01

By Nick Carey
    LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - Electric vehicle (EV) battery
startup Britishvolt and VKTR, part of Bakrie & Brothers'
 BNBR.JK  auto unit, said on Tuesday they would develop
sustainable nickel refining capacity in Indonesia and look into
building a battery plant there.
    The two companies will form a joint venture called Indovolt
BV VKTR, to provide nickel sulphate, a crucial ingredient for
high-performance EV batteries, which will eventually be produced
using renewable energy in line with Britishvolt's environmental,
social, and governance (ESG) goals. 
    "I am proud to be helping establish a secure supply of
nickel to the UK at a time when raw materials are in the
spotlight," Britishvolt chief executive Orral Nadjari said in a
statement. 
    Indovolt will also look at other countries for potential
battery plants. VKTR has been looking for a partner to build a
15 Gigawatt hour (GWh) battery plant in Indonesia.
    The deal comes at a time of surging raw materials prices,
exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the
international sanctions that have followed it.
    Indonesia is a top nickel producer and has harboured
ambitions of processing its nickel laterite ore and becoming a
global hub for producing and exporting EVs.
    Last week, Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE , Huayou Cobalt  603799.SS 
and Tsingshan Group signed a deal focused on nickel and cobalt
raw material production in Indonesia - home to more than 10% of
global laterite nickel ore reserves. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VO07W
    State-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) and South
Korea's LG  003550.KS  are also building a battery plant in
Indonesia worth $1.2 billion with 10 GWh of capacity.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2NB2OF
    Last month, Britishvolt launched a Series C funding round
with a starting investment of 40 million pounds ($52.4 million)
from shareholder Glencore  GLEN.L .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2UP1VT
    It has also secured UK government backing for a 45 GWh
battery plant project in northern England, unlocking 1.7 billion
pounds ($2.3 billion) in private funding.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U00UZ
    Britishvolt has signed up British carmakers Aston Martin
 AML.L  and Lotus as customers.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U70RZ  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2V90IT
    
    

($1 = 0.7641 pounds)

 (Reporting By Nick Carey. Editing by Jane Merriman)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))