"New Indonesian industrial park on Borneo, feted as 'green,' will be powered by coal, report says" 14 September 2023

A vast industrial park being built on the tropical island of Borneo that has attracted billions of dollars in foreign and domestic investment is damaging the environment in an area where endangered animals live and migrate...

The environmental impact assessment commissioned by PT Kalimantan Industrial Park Indonesia...says the project’s coastal zone is a conservation and migration area for green turtles, hawksbill turtles and killer whales...

The Kalimantan Industrial Park is a “national strategic project” meant to make Indonesia a major producer of strategic resources. Plans call for eventually doubling its size to some 30,000 hectares (74,130 acres), making it one of the world’s biggest industrial zones...The project’s blueprint includes a smelter to make aluminum for electric vehicles and other factories to produce petrochemicals, batteries for EVs and polycrystalline materials used in solar panels...

South Korean automaker Hyundai has signed an memorandum of understanding to buy aluminum from Adaro Minerals Indonesia, part of the coal-mining Adaro Group, which has pledged $728 million to build the smelter...

Australia-based Fortescue Future Industries has agreed to study the possibility of producing ammonia and hydrogen, according to a report by an Indonesia-based think tank, the Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), which was released Thursday. China-based battery maker CATL has invested $5.1 billion, while several other Chinese manufacturers have invested in petrochemical plants, the CELIOS report says.

The environmental, social and governance policies of companies involved in the project, including Hyundai, CATL, Fortescue and Adaro, all include commitments to decarbonization. Adaro and Fortescue did not respond to questions or requests for comment sent by AP. AP was unable to locate contact information for CATL...Hyundai said it signed a non-binding agreement with “the intention of solely procuring low-carbon aluminum using hydroelectric power generation.”

But CELIOS’s analysis says coal-fired plants will provide a significant amount of the power it uses, including some 1,425 to 1,900 MW for the aluminum smelter that is advertising “green aluminum.”...

The project has raised other concerns. Some people living in the area told The AP their land was seized or they were facing pressure from PT KIPI and local officials to move, and offered unfair prices. PT KIPI did not respond to a request for comment...Residents hope the project may bring jobs, but worry they will lose their traditional livelihoods as fishermen, farmers and increasingly, eco-tourism hosts as dust and ash smother their fields...