Solway Investment Group's Morowali nickel smelter project teams up with Indonesian state-owned enterprise

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PT Aquila Cobalt Nickel (ACN), a subsidiary of the Swiss-based Solway Investment Group, signed a Sales & Purchase Agreement with the state-owned electricity company PT PLN for the supply of 200 MVA to its Aquila Project. The agreement allows ACN to obtain up to 100% of power sourced from renewable power generation. 

Within its commitment to minimizing the Group's environmental and carbon footprint, Solway is working on implementing clean energy solutions across its business operations. The Group is continually researching technologies which will improve overall sustainability practices. Power generation sourced from renewable energy is an important part of Solway's future energy security. This partnership with PT PLN is an important step towards securing the Aquila Project's lasting circular value creation and maximising potential gains to society, not just minimizing or neutralise losses to it.  

The Group's long-term strategy in Indonesia includes the development of processing facilities for nickel intermediates such as nickel matte and mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) for use in the production of battery-grade nickel sulfate material.

In support of the Indonesian government's plan to establish Indonesia as a global hub for the manufacturing of electric vehicles, Solway Group is developing a nickel smelter facility in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. The Aquila Project will process nickel laterite ore into nickel pig iron (NPI) via nickel laterite smelting processes technology as well as mixed hydroxide product (MHP) via a high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) technology.

Three nickel deposits around the island of Sulawesi will support the Aquila Project: Asera, Bahomoahi, and Sorawolio, with estimated resources of approximately 50 million wmt of nickel saprolite ore and 40 million wmt of nickel limonite ore. The smelter facility in Morowali will have the capacity to process up to 5 million wmt of saprolite and limonite nickel ore and produce up to 50,000 MT of Ni. The Aquila project will be implemented in several stages, with initial production to commence in 2023-2024. 

Solway Group is currently concentrating its energies on nickel, copper, gold and silver, all materials critical to the global transition to clean, sustainable, green energy. The Group is focused on adding value holistically, across the entire value chains, lifecycles, and ranges of applications for these metals.  

For further information or interview requests please contact us by email: [email protected] or call: +62.21 579.91516

SOURCE Solway Investment Group