Jakarta — The Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) has backed West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi’s decision to temporarily halt construction of an artificial intelligence data centre in Jatiluhur, Purwakarta, and called for stronger safeguards governing the sector.
IESR said on Thursday, October 1, construction of BDx Data Centre’s planned AI Campus 2 (CGK4) should not resume until environmental and building permits are complete and the project’s potential impacts on water resources, electricity supply and local communities have been assessed and disclosed.
“We appreciate the firmness of the West Java governor. Data centre investment is an important part of Indonesia’s digital economic growth. However, development must respect the sustainability of water resources, electricity reliability and the public’s right to information,” IESR Chief Executive Officer Fabby Tumiwa said in a statement.
The 640-megawatt (MW) facility is located about 5 km from the Jatiluhur Reservoir, a major source of irrigation water for rice-growing areas in West Java. Groundbreaking took place on September 22, but construction was halted on September 28 following a governor’s inspection after the Purwakarta administration had yet to issue the project’s environmental impact assessment, known as AMDAL, and building approval.
IESR said the facility’s projected water demand could reach 384 litres per second in later development stages, equivalent to about 33,000 cubic metres per day or more than 12 million cubic metres a year.
At full capacity, the 640 MW facility could consume up to 5.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually, IESR said.
The institute called for the AMDAL and social and environmental impact assessments to involve affected communities, including farmers dependent on Jatiluhur irrigation, and for the documents to be made public.
It also called for public disclosure of studies on the data centre’s impact on the Java-Madura-Bali electricity system, including reserve margins, transmission and substation requirements and its power sources. The government should also disclose potential impacts on electricity access for households, small businesses and industry, as well as who would bear the cost of grid upgrades, IESR said.
Fabby said the public should know whether the electricity would come from additional coal-fired generation and whether other PLN customers would bear risks associated with the project.
IESR also urged the central government to establish national safeguards for AI and data centres, including environmental, social and energy standards. It proposed mandatory waterless or closed-loop cooling systems, a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) target below 1.3, and direct renewable energy use of at least 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.
Indonesia’s data centre electricity demand could exceed 2 GW by 2029, according to a May estimate by the Communications and Digital Ministry, while PLN has projected demand could reach 25 GW by 2035, IESR said.
“Indonesia wants to become a data centre hub in the region. That is an opportunity, but only if data centres are water-efficient, energy-efficient and powered by renewable energy,” Fabby said. (nsh)
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