Jakarta. Green energy company Mirah Green has announced a plan to build an integrated silica processing factory with an initial investment of $140 million on Batam Island.

The factory aims to support solar panel and semiconducting material industries in Indonesia, the company said in a statement.

The investment will be channeled through Mirah’s subsidiary Tynergy Technology Group which will lead the silica factory project at Wiraraja Industrial Area in Batam, following a recent meeting with Chief Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

Indonesia has the ambition to become a regional player in the electric vehicle industry and its supporting ecosystem such as the battery industry.

Mirah Green said Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest raw material suppliers for the battery industry for both the EV and solar panel industries but the domestic demand for batteries remains small.

“We believe one of the reasons [for the small demand] is the expensive price of batteries,” Mirah said.

The integrated silica factory aims to boost supplies and reduce battery prices for the solar panel industry. 

The energy costs between coal-fired power plants and solar panels will eventually reach an equilibrium point, and so will the energy costs between internal combustion engine vehicles and electric vehicles, the company said.

“As a result, demands for solar panels will eventually increase,” it said. 

Mirah Green Indonesia has among the biggest deposit of silica, also known as silicon dioxide, in the world, but the country still has no facility to upgrade the raw materials into photovoltaics (PV), the key component that generates electricity in the solar panel.

“We also aim to support the industry of semiconducting materials,” the company said.