POWERING INDONESIA’S GREEN REVOLUTION: LEADING THE CHARGE IN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Nickel is a key raw material for both the stainless-steel industry and the fast-growing electric-vehicle (EV) battery sector. As the world’s largest nickel producer, Indonesia is crucial in ensuring supply security and has the potential in promote the nation’s downstream industrialization. This paper uses PT Vale Indonesia as a case study to discuss how competitiveness and sustainability can be embedded into nickel production. Drawing on qualitative content analysis of corporate reports, government papers, institutional reports, and academic scholarship, the study investigates operations strategy, ESG performance metrics, and technological developments in downstream processing. Results shows PT Vale Indonesia is able to be cost efficient as well as to perform well in ESG by adopting the hydropower integration, huge land reclamation and by responsibly managing the concession areas. The company’s strategic partnership with its global partners has further provided the scalability for it to increase its capacity in accordance with the national down streaming policy of Indonesia. In the end, the study finds that competitive and sustainable ambitions are compatible, placing Indonesia as a major supplier of responsibly sourced nickel to the world energy transition.