Indonesia's 32 Aluminum Industry Projects Could Add ~8GW of New Coal Power Demand

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 7, attention further turned to the captive power demand driven by Indonesia's aluminum industry expansion. According to estimates by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), as alumina and aluminum smelting projects continue to be developed, Indonesia's existing and planned aluminum industry projects could support approximately 9.8GW of captive coal-fired power capacity, of which about 1.8GW is already operational, with the remaining ~8GW associated with 32 potential projects.

CREA statistics show that Indonesia's alumina production capacity is expected to increase from approximately 7 million tons per year in 2025 to 32.5 million tons per year by 2030, with the expansion driven mainly by metallurgical-grade alumina projects. Corresponding bauxite demand is projected to rise from about 14 million tons per year to 65 million tons per year. Currently, around 75% of Indonesia's alumina and aluminum projects involve Chinese capital or corporate support.

Existing aluminum industry projects have already formed approximately 1.8GW of captive coal-fired power capacity. Based on the production scale and energy configuration of the 32 follow-up projects, CREA assesses that continued progress on these projects could add roughly 8GW of captive coal-fired power capacity. These projects are mainly concentrated in areas rich in bauxite resources and industrial parks, spanning alumina refineries, aluminum smelters, and supporting power facilities.

Among them, Indonesia's state-owned mining system is advancing the expansion of the Mempawah aluminum industry chain in West Kalimantan. CREA data indicates that the subsequent aluminum smelting expansion plan for this project corresponds to approximately 1.25GW of captive coal-fired power. Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has previously disclosed that bauxite smelting and aluminum smelting projects have high electricity demands, and smelting projects still rely heavily on captive coal-fired power.

Public data from Indonesia's geological authorities show that producing 1 million tons of alumina requires approximately 611,000 tons of coal, while the electricity demand for producing 1 million tons of aluminum smelted metal can reach about 2,000MW. Indonesia currently still has multiple bauxite processing and aluminum smelting projects in the planning, construction, or phased expansion stages.