Indonesia says UAE’s Emirates Global Aluminium plans nuclear power plant

UAE firm Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) plans to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to five gigawatts in Indonesia, the Indonesian economic affairs ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday (Feb 12).

The ministry also said high electricity prices and a lack of low-carbon electricity had delayed plans for EGA to help increase the capacity of an aluminium smelter owned by Indonesia Asahan Aluminium in North Sumatra by up to 400,000 tonnes per year.

EGA did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the nuclear power plant. The request was submitted outside regular business hours in the UAE.

The ministry’s statement came after Indonesia’s senior economic minister Airlangga Hartarto met with EGA CEO Abdulnasser Ibrahim Saif Bin Kalban in Dubai to discuss aluminium industry development in Indonesia.

Airlangga also met with Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, the chief executive of UAE state-owned renewable energy firm Masdar, to discuss their projects in Indonesia, including a 145 megawatt floating solar power plant on a reservoir in West Java province and the development of a gas pipeline from Aceh to East Java.

Airlangga was in Dubai to attend the World Government Summit. REUTERS

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