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ABB: Leading Indonesia’s future to net zero mobility
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Alireza Mehrtash, ABB Asia Pacific Vice President of Electrification, Smart Buildings and Smart Power.
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he Indonesian government is determined to expand the nation's electric vehicle (EV) sector to reduce the country’s high reliance on coal and the increasing impacts of global warming. Indonesia plans to mass-produce both electric cars and electric motorcycles by 2025, aiming for EVs to make up at least 20 percent of total domestic vehicle sales by that year.
According to the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo), nationwide EV sales surged to 15,437 units in 2022, nearly five times the 3,193 units sold during the previous year. Both local and multinational companies have been responding to the government’s call to boost nationwide EV adoption by boosting infrastructure and production.
ABB, a leader in electrification and automation, has stepped forward to take the lead.
Alireza Mehrtash, ABB Asia Pacific Vice President of Electrification, Smart Buildings and Smart Power, said during an interview with The Jakarta Post: “Indonesia has not only a huge demand for e-mobility considering its size and population, but it also has a lot of natural resources relevant for this industry. Indonesia is already the world’s top producer of nickel and the second largest of cobalt, so it can contribute a lot to this business.”
ABB is ready to provide the EV ecosystem in Indonesia and Southeast Asia with its strategic manufacturing sites, its long-term experience in EV adoption in various countries, as well as its comprehensive research and development units. The company is a preferred partner for Indonesia to enhance industry development and transform mindsets in parallel with the rise of EV users in the country.
The company is actively assisting local consumers with adjusting to new technologies while bringing the right investments and knowledge, raising awareness of the importance of the energy transition, promoting dialogues between stakeholders and simplifying the electricity grid network to ease the installation and operation of charging infrastructure.
“We are expanding our activities and collaboration with other key stakeholders within the EV ecosystem in Indonesia,” added Mehrtash.
Recently, ABB signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with PLN Icon Plus and PLN Haleyora Power, both subsidiaries of state electricity company PLN, on collaborating in the development of EV charging infrastructures across the country.
“The key idea we hope to achieve from this MoU is to coordinate and facilitate studies, elaborate on future technologies and on business potential. We would like to further understand and align on the different locations in Indonesia which will require different grid settings and might have different requirements for chargers,” said Mehrtash.
The collaboration will also expand the networks of both ABB and its partners while creating a space for freely exchanging ideas to accelerate EV adoption in Indonesia.
According to Mehrtash, ABB sees four strategic areas in e-mobility deployment in Indonesia: easy access to safe and reliable charging infrastructure, the availability of high performance and affordable EVs, grid reinforcement, and the integration of renewable power generation.
He underlined that ABB had the expertise and capability to offer full end-to-end solutions, from charging infrastructure to grid reinforcement and renewable integration.
“We have a specialized team in place in Indonesia composed of engineers, technical experts, as well as service and maintenance support.
“We have all relevant certification from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as the regulator of the EV national program in Indonesia. This is not only very important, but it is a key requirement to ensure proper maintenance of any type of EV chargers,“ he added.
According the Mehrtash, the vision is to sustainably reduce the level of carbon emissions, of which up to 30 percent is generated by combustion vehicles. Indonesia is thus encouraged to switch to EVs at the earliest opportunity, specifically by addressing and overcoming the challenges that accompany the adoption of new technologies.
“Indonesia is predicted to be in the world’s top five largest economies by 2050, based on the data from Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research. As a result, it would present a huge demand for mobility and with that, e-mobility,” he noted.
