Jakarta. Trimegah Bangun Persada (Harita Nickel) is planning to build a 300-megawatt (MW) solar power plant within its nickel processing hub on Obi Island, situated in South Halmahera, North Maluku, this year.

Roy Arman Arfandy, CEO of Harita Nickel, shared during a media gathering in Jakarta on Wednesday, that this ambitious project is part of their strategy to transition towards sustainable energy sources. 

"This 300 MW solar power plant is expected to be completed by 2025 as part of our energy transition efforts," Roy said.

The development of the power plant will unfold in stages, with the initial phase targeting a capacity of 40 MW, currently undergoing the tendering process. Presently, Harita Nickel relies on a 960 MW coal-fired power plant to fulfill its operational requirements.

In tandem with the solar project, Harita Nickel is actively reducing its reliance on coal, adopting measures such as repurposing used cooking oil to fuel boilers at their facilities and deploying solar panels across employee accommodations on Obi Island.

Roy emphasized that the adoption of the solar plant is anticipated to yield a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

While Roy refrained from divulging specific investment details concerning the solar plant, citing its ongoing developmental phase, he underscored Harita Nickel's commitment to environmental sustainability.

Harita Nickel, a constituent of the Harita Group, oversees a comprehensive nickel mining and processing infrastructure on Obi Island, encompassing saprolite nickel ore smelters and limonite nickel ore processing and refining facilities.

Additionally, Harita Nickel boasts two supplementary facilities: Halmahera Persada Lygend (HPL), a limonite refining facility utilizing hydro-metallurgical processes to supply materials for electric vehicle batteries, and Halmahera Jaya Feronikel (HJF), a saprolite smelter operating on pyro-metallurgical principles.

The company's financial performance in 2023 saw a notable upsurge, with Harita Nickel reporting a net profit of Rp 5.62 trillion, marking a 20 percent increase from the preceding year's figure of Rp 4.67 trillion.