• INA says Indonesia’s energy availability and large digital market could help attract more AI data-centre investment
  • PLN Batam has agreed to supply 511MVA to DayOne’s Kabil development, its largest Indonesian data-centre power deal at the time

The fact

Indonesia Investment Authority investment director Johan Batubara said Indonesia has an advantage in attracting AI data centres because the country has surplus energy at a time when power is becoming harder to secure in other markets. He also pointed to Indonesia’s large digital market as another reason operators are considering the country.

Data centres are already part of INA’s investment portfolio. The sovereign wealth fund has partnered with DayOne on a 72MW hyperscale campus at Nongsa Digital Park in Batam and took part in DayOne’s US$2 billion Series C financing earlier this year.

Power commitments are also growing alongside those investments. In April, PLN Batam signed an agreement to supply 511MVA to DayOne’s development at Kabil Industrial Estate. PLN described it as the largest electricity supply agreement for a data centre in Indonesia at the time.

Batam is also the planned location of a 360MW Nvidia DSX AI Factory being developed by Firmus Technologies with Nvidia and DayOne. Firmus said the campus is scheduled to begin operating in the first quarter of 2027 and could eventually use up to 170,000 Nvidia AI accelerators.

The assessment

Indonesia may have plenty of electricity at a national level, but a data centre needs that power at a specific site. Developers still need a connection large enough for the facility, supporting grid infrastructure and confidence that the supply will be available when the servers are running.

Batam shows how that process is beginning to work. DayOne has secured a 511MVA supply agreement, while the planned Firmus project would add another large AI load to the island. As more projects arrive, the amount of generation available nationally becomes less useful than the amount that can actually reach each development.

For BTW readers, Indonesia’s advantage will depend on how quickly utilities can turn available energy into dependable connections for individual data-centre sites. Large power agreements, new substations, and generation or transmission upgrades will give a clearer picture of how much of the announced AI pipeline can actually be brought online.

What to watch

Watch the power arrangements for new projects in Batam and Greater Jakarta, especially connection capacity and the infrastructure needed to deliver it. Progress on the 360MW Firmus campus and other large developments will show whether electricity supply can keep pace with Indonesia’s growing AI data-centre pipeline.