He also called for more streamlined permit and approval processes for building such facilities.
However, the strong demand for data centres is starting to tighten land supply in parts of Greater Jakarta, and their potential impact on local communities and the environment is a cause for concern.
Farazia Basarah, country head of real estate firm JLL Indonesia, said developers comply with both local and national regulations to minimise disruption to nearby communities, with data centres typically located about 1km to 5km away from residential areas.
She added that sites must also meet strict environmental criteria, including being located in areas with low flood risk, with the land expected to remain safe from flooding for up to 50 years.
POWERING GROWTH SUSTAINABLY
As the industry expands, so does pressure to manage energy and water use.
Data centres require a constant supply of electricity and must operate around the clock to avoid disruptions. Much of that power goes to running servers and cooling systems.
To address this, companies are investing in cleaner energy sources.
Microsoft’s president of cloud operations and innovation Noelle Walsh said the company works closely with utility providers and is partnering Indonesia’s state electricity firm PLN on a 10-year renewable energy supply.
“(PLN) will provide 200MW of solar energy onto the grid here. And that gives us the opportunity to use more green power,” she added.
Data centres also generate enormous heat as they process information and rely heavily on water-based cooling systems to prevent servers from overheating.
Microsoft has pledged to become “water positive” by 2030, meaning it aims to return more water to the environment than it uses.
However, the growing water demand is raising concerns in some parts of Indonesia.
In Batam, for example, where supply depends largely on rainwater reservoirs, observers have warned that data centre expansion must be carefully managed to avoid straining limited resources.
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