In late June, China’s LONGi Green Energy Technology announced a tie-up with Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina to make solar panels in West Java province. That news came just a week after its rival, Trina Solar, opened a smaller factory in Central Java province. During the first six months of this year, Indonesians bought nearly as many electric vehicles as they did in all of 2024 — almost all from Chinese brands. As competition among clean energy firms intensifies in China, its biggest EV and renewables companies are making inroads into Indonesia, positioning themselves for the day Southeast Asia weans itself off fossil fuels. One example: Trina’s 1.5 trillion rupiah ($90 million) solar panel factory at Kendal Industrial Park in Central Java. PT Trina Mas Agra Indonesia (TMAI), the company’s joint venture with a local partner, employs 640 workers producing 1 gigawatt (GW) of next-generation solar panels that last longer and perform better in cloudy conditions. TMAI chief financial officer Martha Octavia told Mongabay the factory could triple production if needed. “The important point is that we are fully prepared, both in terms of technology and infrastructure, to scale when the timing is right,” Octavia said in emailed remarks. For now, the company is positioning itself to supply panels for some of the nearly 15 GW of utility-scale solar projects in Indonesia’s pipeline, according to data published in February by Global Energy Monitor. At present, Indonesia has just over 560 megawatts (MW) of solar power feeding the grid…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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