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Indonesia has halted construction of BDx Data Centers' 640MW AI campus in Jatiluhur, West Java, over pending environmental and building approvals, while the company maintains its early 2027 target for the first phase.
Indonesia has halted construction of Singapore-based BDx Data Centers' 640MW artificial intelligence data centre campus in Jatiluhur, West Java, because two mandatory approvals remain outstanding.
BDx, which already operates three data centre sites in Indonesia, confirmed on Oct 3 that construction had stopped following instructions from West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi. The company said it was working closely with the authorities to complete the remaining regulatory and permitting requirements, and that the process was progressing as planned. At this stage, we continue to target the first phase entering service in early 2027, subject to the completion of these approvals, the company told The Straits Times.
BDx AI Data Centre Construction Stopped
The halt came less than two weeks after BDx announced on Sept 22 that it had begun construction of the 640MW AI campus. The 111,000 sq m project, roughly the size of 15 football pitches, is located about 5km from the Jatiluhur reservoir. BDx said then that construction had begun on the first of six planned buildings on the campus.
The first building will provide 120MW of IT capacity in phases, with its first contracted phase expected to enter service in early 2027. Dedi inspected the site on Sept 28, when he questioned officials over the two outstanding approvals. The West Java government said he subsequently ordered construction to be halted on Sept 30 until the requirements were completed.
He later said he had raised the same issue during an earlier visit on July 28, when the approvals were already being processed, and had told those involved that construction should not proceed until they were issued. The required approvals include a mandatory environmental impact assessment, known in Indonesia as an AMDAL, which examines the potential environmental effects of a major development before it can proceed.
Indonesia Data Centre Sector Faces Scrutiny
The other is a PBG, or building approval, which sets out whether a planned building meets technical and administrative requirements. Officials in Purwakarta, the West Java regency where the data centre is located, inspected the site on Oct 1 and found that construction activity had stopped. The halt comes as Indonesia's data centre sector expands rapidly to meet growing demand for cloud computing and AI, bringing greater scrutiny of the industry's heavy water and electricity use.
Indonesia had 204 data centre facilities as at September, the most in South-east Asia, according to industry database DataCenterMap. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said in July that Indonesia had about 580MW of operational data centre capacity, with investors interested in developing another 1.3GW. The BDx project has itself drawn questions over its planned use of water from the nearby Jatiluhur reservoir, a major source of water for Greater Jakarta and irrigation across West Java.
Water Supply Concerns for West Java Project
The West Java authorities have said the project's water needs could eventually reach about 384 litres per second when fully developed. Officials say sufficient water remains within Purwakarta's allocation, while Dedi has insisted that supplies to residents and farmers must not be disrupted. He has also called for the project's environmental analysis to be made public and asked a University of Indonesia academic to provide an independent assessment.
Dedi, who is known for his active social media presence and frequently documents his activities on YouTube, has also sought to explain his decision publicly. Speaking to reporters in Bandung on Oct 2, the governor blamed the delay on the project's consultant, saying it had been slow to submit the necessary information, rather than on the Purwakarta authorities.
BDx Consultant Role and Project Details
BDx did not respond to ST queries on what type of consultants it had engaged and whether it was reviewing its relationship with the consultant involved. The Jatiluhur project is known as CGK4 in BDx's naming system. CGK is also the three-letter airport code for Jakarta. BDx said it plans to develop the six-building campus over about three years and has secured 845 megavolt amperes of grid capacity from state electricity company PLN.
The company said the campus is designed to support high-density AI computing. BDx said it remained committed to responsible development that supports Indonesia's AI and digital infrastructure ambitions. The project is part of a broader data-centre boom that has raised concerns over water and power use across the region.
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straits_times:Singapore’s BDx AI sticks to 2027 target after Indonesia halts work on data centreThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Indonesia Data Centre Bdx Data Centers West Java Environmental Approval Indonesia Data Centre Halt West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi Jatiluhur Reservoir AI Data Centre Approvals Bdx Data Centre Jatiluhur West Java AI Data Centre Halt Indonesia Data Centre Expansion AMDAL Environmental Approval
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