Envision has declared an ambitious target to build 100 “net-zero industrial parks” around the world over the next decade. It has announced 10 projects so far, including in China, Mongolia and Spain. It hopes to achieve its target through tie-ups with local partners in many countries.
The company last month entered into an agreement with Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie & Brothers to look into developing the first zero-emission parks in Indonesia, also Southeast Asia’s first. That followed the signing of a deal in October between Bakrie and Envision AESC, the Japan-based battery-making subsidiary of Envision, to supply nickel, a key battery material.
Envision defines its net-zero industrial parks as being fully powered by renewable energy, connected by electric mobility, such as with electric trucks, and deploying software modelling to optimise decarbonisation efforts.
Bakrie has announced separate tie-ups this year, including with Chinese automaker BYD and British battery maker Britishvolt for potential joint production of electric buses, batteries and EV auto parts in Indonesia.
Bakrie is one of a growing number of local companies tapping the mostly two-wheel EV and battery industries, as the government aims to use Indonesia’s nickel resources to turn it into a key player in the global EV supply chain.
Shochi Matsumoto, CEO of Envision AESC, told Nikkei Asia recently that the growth of the EV market and manufacturing capacity in Southeast Asia could lift demand for net-zero industrial parks. He cited the growing shift to EVs by many auto parts manufacturers, also known as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), in Asean countries. The companies mostly supply Japanese carmakers such as Toyota and Honda.
“Each OEM has a plan to change from” manufacturing internal combustion engine cars to EVs “in the near future”, Matsumoto said in an interview on the sidelines of the Business 20 summit on Bali on Nov 13, part of the Group of 20 summit that Indonesia hosted on the island. “That means within the Asean area – not only Indonesia but also Thailand and Malaysia – there are many big opportunities.”
The Indonesian government separately announced last year the start of construction on the country’s first “green industrial park” in North Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, which seeks to utilise the large hydropower potential of the region.
That comes against the backdrop of growing environmental concerns in the EV supply chain, including from highly polluting mining activities and carbon-intensive processing of nickel due to the industry’s dependence on coal power in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Cornelius Willis, chief marketing officer for Envision Digital, also part of Envision Group, said it is currently in talks with “different parts of the Indonesian government” as it considers participating in the building of low-carbon industrial parks, though he did not specifically mention the one in North Kalimantan. Based in Singapore, Envision Digital develops software modelling to manage renewable power plants and smart city features, among other decarbonisation efforts.
Matsumoto said Envision AESC currently has a total production capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours from its existing battery plants in Japan, China, the US and the UK. It wants to raise that figure to more than 300 GWh by 2026 by expanding existing plants and building new ones in those countries, plus France and Spain.
Envision AESC – established by Japan’s Nissan and electronics group NEC in 2007 before its acquisition by Envision Group in 2018 – is a supplier for Nissan, Honda and Mercedes-Benz. Some of its new plants will supply BMW and Renault.
Matsumoto added that battery plants in Southeast Asia are “under consideration”, but that his company has no concrete plans to build one yet, citing a lack of “engineering resources” in the region as an obstacle.