NICKEL Industries (NIC) is committed to producing environmentally friendly nickel products that produce little carbon. One way is to collaborate with PT Sumber Energi Surya Nusantara (SESNA), a renewable energy company that focuses on developing solar energy.

NIC Sustainability Manager Muchtazar said that his party is committed together with SESNA to reduce the carbon footprint in order to produce clean and sustainable nickel. The use of solar power plants (PLTS) is considered a concrete step to reduce carbon emissions. "This is one of the efforts we are making to reduce our carbon footprint, including through collaboration with SESNA and making our energy use more efficient," said Muchtazar.

The nickel mining and processing area in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, he added, has large solar energy potential, making it very possible for nickel production operations. Collaboration with SESNA is considered a very strategic collaboration. Based on the evaluation results of a number of renewable energy potentials such as hydropower, wind and solar, it turns out that solar power plants (PLTS) have great potential to be used to produce nickel.

"We are very happy to collaborate with SESNA as a solar power provider from Indonesia. So, we want to prioritize local partners because we want the company's existence to contribute positively to Indonesia's development," said Muchtazar. As a start, the NIC project, through its subsidiary, PT Hengjaya Mineralindo, began utilizing hybrid PLTS with an initial capacity of 395 kilowatt peak (kWp) to see the advantages of using solar energy sources. The use of PLTS developed by SESNA is intended to support mining operations and employee mess. 

Seeing the good performance of this project, NIC then continued developing the project with a larger capacity, namely 200 megawatt peak (MWp) to be used as an energy source for nickel processing activities or smelters in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park area. "So far we are very satisfied with this collaboration and want to immediately increase the energy capacity produced from solar power, both in our mines and smelters in the future," said Muchtazar.

The use of PLTS is in line with the sustainability program carried out by Nickel Industries, especially in the environmental pillar. NIC strives to produce nickel that is environmentally friendly or has a low carbon footprint. Currently, nickel is said to be one of the raw materials used to manufacture various products, one of which is electric vehicle (EV) battery products. Therefore, it is hoped that the use of PLTS can produce nickel that is processed sustainably.

Muchtazar also denied that the operational costs incurred for using EBT were quite expensive. According to him, PLTS can actually save more costs. "In collaboration with SESNA, this renewable energy can be obtained at the same cost or even cheaper than conventional. So actually by implementing EBT we can also save in the long term," said Muchtazar.

NIC hopes that the cooperation in developing PLTS with SESNA can be sustainable in the future so that the nickel mining and processing business can continue to run well. Nickel Industries' reputation in the world of nickel mining is quite respected. In early September 2023, this company received the Sustainability title from the TrenAsia ESG Awards. 

SESNA is a local renewable energy company that focuses on developing PLTS projects. The focus is as a solution provider starting from the development process, engineering, procurement & construction, as well as operations & maintenance. SESNA also provides a zero capex or solar rental investment scheme for the mining industry interested in transitioning to renewable energy more efficiently. (RO/Z-2)

Image source: ANTARA

Source: www.mediaindonesia.com/Ingin Hasilkan Nikel Ramah Lingkungan Nickel Industries Bangun PLTS