Indonesia's Merdeka Battery to build $1.8 billion nickel HPAL plant

JAKARTA : Indonesian nickel company PT Merdeka Battery Materials said it has signed definitive agreements with strategic partners to build a $1.8 billion high-pressure acid leach plant to produce nickel materials used in EV batteries. 

The HPAL plant will have a 90,000 metric tons annual capacity, Merdeka said in a statement on Monday. Construction for the project started in January and the plant is expected to reach the commissioning stage within 18 months, the company added.