Antara, Jakarta – Indonesia's state electricity company PT PLN (Persero) revealed that its 159 data center customers consumed 2,378 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy.
"The rising demand for electricity within the data center ecosystem highlights the growing importance of energy infrastructure to the growth of the digital economy," said PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo in a statement on Saturday, September 26, as quoted by ANTARA.
He said data center growth requires specific electrical support, particularly capacity, reliability, and power quality, as well as clean energy. This situation prompts PLN to prepare infrastructure and services aligned with customers' needs and development plans.
Darmawan said PLN will continue to strengthen electricity infrastructure to support the growth of Indonesia's data center sector and align with the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation.
"PLN aims for electricity infrastructure development to keep pace with the growth of the digital sector, with planning undertaken early on so that energy needs can be anticipated and investments can grow sustainably," said Darmawan.
Meanwhile, PLN Executive Vice President of Enterprise Sales and Customer Service, Dini Sulistyawati, stated that the company currently serves 159 data center customers with a total connected capacity of 2,038 megavolt-amperes (MVA).
Approximately 99 percent of that capacity remains concentrated in the Java-Madura-Bali electricity system, with West Java being one of the largest data center clusters. However, data center development is beginning to expand beyond that region, including into Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi.
In line with this expansion, the technology sector's demand for an electricity supply is expected to keep rising. This necessitates planning electricity infrastructure that aligns with each region's specific needs. The data center's customers currently record an energy consumption of 2,378 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
"We believe this is just the beginning. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital services, and the growth of Indonesia's digital economy will continue to generate new demand for electricity on a very significant scale," said Dini.
Furthermore, he added that the greatest challenge for PLN is maintaining a balance between increasing supply capacity and ensuring reliability, affordability, and long-term system stability.
To anticipate the growth in data center demand, developing power generation and grid infrastructure must be planned in an integrated manner and initiated early on. To this end, PLN advocates an "early alignment" approach, which involves coordination from the initial development stage.
"Earlier commitment and closer coordination between both parties, supported by clearer demand projections, a realistic energization schedule, an appropriate pace of capacity development, and stronger cooperation among PLN, customers, and the government," said Dini.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2120372/how-much-power-do-data-centers-consume-in-indonesi