Sun Cable signs up to help unlock $150 billion of green growth in Indonesia

Sophie Vorrath 15 November 2022

Sun Cable, the Australian solar and storage developer with mammoth plans backed by the country’s two richest men, has been tapped to work with the Indonesian government to unlock more than $150 billion in “green industry” growth in the archipelago.

The collaboration was formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding announced on Tuesday at the G20/B20 summit in Bali by Sun Cable founder and CEO David Griffin and Indonesia’s minister for energy and mineral resources Arifin Tasrif.

The initial focus of the joint effort will draw on Sun Cable’s experience as a “leading renewables connectivity developer,” as the starting point for Indonesia’s particular set of circumstances, as a country made up of 17,500 islands.

But the broader plan is to build out five key industries identified in a joint study as having the potential to underpin green growth and add up to $A171 billion (IDR1,600 trillion) to Indonesia’s GDP by 2035.

The five industries, identified in the study by Sun Cable and Indonesia’s energy department (EDSM), include mining and minerals processing, energy and fuels, transport manufacturing, food processing and agriculture, and IT infrastructure.

The study also notes Indonesia’s access to a large and relatively young workforce, its wealth in critical mineral resources and its strategic location at the heart of ASEAN growth.

“Indonesia has some of the best renewable energy resources in Asia and many of the core capabilities to become a Green Industry powerhouse,” the report says.

Of particular note, Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, a critical raw material in the manufacture of batteries for storage and electric vehicles, and is rapidly building its smelting capacity to produce refined value-added “ferronickel.”

Building an Indonesia “super grid”

But unlocking the archipelago’s green economic potential will also require rapid acceleration of new generation, with a 25-fold increase in renewable capacity required to supply zero-carbon demand, according to the study.

https://reneweconomy.com.au/sun-cable-signs-up-to-help-unlock-150-billion-of-green-growth-in-indonesia/