Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel supplier but still relies heavily on captive coal. (Photo: Harita Group)
Indonesia sits at the heart of the global clean energy transition, supplying nearly half of the world’s nickel reserves essential for electric vehicle batteries. Yet the country’s processing boom remains powered by captive coal, with 15.5 GW of capacity in operation in 2024 and projections exceeding 32 GW by 2031.
“Most nickel operations still rely on coal power. Transitioning won’t be as simple as flipping a switch,” said Zahedi Zakaria, ESG Transformation Manager at Harita Group, one of Indonesia’s largest nickel producers, during Ember’s Oct. 22 webinar “From Captive Coal to Green Nickel.”
Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions jumped from ninth to sixth globally within just a year, a stark reminder of how quickly its resource-driven growth is raising climate risks, said Wei Shen, senior research fellow at the International Institute of Green Finance.
