Telkom targets to conquer 400 MW of the total need for data centers in Indonesia by developing HDC Batam.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) through its subsidiary PT Telkom Data Ekosistem (NeutraDC) carried out a groundbreaking for the construction of the Batam Hyperscale Data Center (HDC Batam) at Kabil Industrial Estate, Batam (12/21).
HDC Batam is being built on an area of 8 hectares with a total of 3 campuses with a total IT load capacity of 51 megawatts (MW). The data center will utilize renewable energy, be environmentally friendly, and adopt a multi-tier system. In the initial phase of development, it will start with an IT load of around 20 MW and will scale up according to needs.
The development marks Telkom’s second-largest capacity data center as well as the 5th data center business that will be managed directly by NeutraDC after the Cikarang Hyperscale Data Center and the Sentul-Serpong-Surabaya Data Center (3S DC).
According to the Wholesale and International Service Director at Telkom Bogi Witjaksono, this hyperscale development aims to accommodate digital players, mainly on a global scale. “There is a slight difference from the previous data center, namely the hyperscale capacity is very large in the energy context. Second, the level of security in the context of reliability meets tier 3 and tier 4 standards,” said Bogi in an interview with CNBC Indonesia (12/28).
Bogi said that this hyperscale is part of Telkom’s large data center infrastructure, spanning data centers in Cikarang, 3S DC, and Regional DC in Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as edge data centers spread throughout Indonesia. HDC Batam is expected to strengthen Telkom Group’s position as a major data center business player in the region. In addition to serving various business needs in Indonesia, HDC Batam can also capture spillover potential from other countries, including Singapore, which is the hub point for Southeast Asia.
Currently, the Telkom Group retains 25-30% of the data center market share in Indonesia. The need for data centers in Indonesia is predicted to reach 1,200 megawatts or 1.2 gigawatts in 2030. The exponential growth mainly sources from the segments of the enterprise, digital native business, and cloud service provider in both the domestic and regional markets aligned with the increasing need for content access. The magnitude of this need is due to the demographic advantage of Indonesia’s large population. the more people with increased digital literacy, the higher the consumption of data.
Bogi said, “We see that Telkom should take part as the dominant players. Not talking to take all the cakes as it is impossible. In a digital ecosystem, we always share for the sake of resilience. We predict to conquer a minimum of 400 megawatts.”
Collaborating with Medco and SingTel
One of the keys to data center success is energy efficiency. Going forward, data center occupants namely digital players will enhance their computing capabilities, resulting in higher needs for energy. As of now, they are also starting to take into account the use of green energy in operational activities. For this reason, Telkom is collaborating with a renewable energy provider company PT Medco Power Indonesia.
“We see that the main gas source in Batam is owned by Medco. Therefore, we invite Medco to join the effort of developing Indonesia’s digital ecosystem in Batam. All this time, overseas competitors have always promoted green energy and environmentally friendly data centers. We want to show the international community that Indonesia can also develop the same thing,” said Bogi.
Next year, Medco will build solar panels with a capacity of up to 3 gigawatts on Bulan Island, near Batam. In addition, gas sources in Batam can also be converted into blue electricity. These two renewable energy sources will certainly be compelling factors for HDC Batam. Bogi added, “We will prove that by the middle of 2024 at the latest, the data center based on blue energy and environmentally friendly will operate in Indonesia.”
In addition, the Telkom Group is also working with a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), namely ST Dynamo Holdings as one of the efforts for business development and enriching the data center ecosystem.
The data center ecosystem built in Batam is supported by the Telkom Group submarine cable ecosystem, spanning the Batam Singapore Cable System (BSCS), Indonesia Global Gateway (IGG), and the submarine cable construction project which will be implemented shortly. HDC Batam’s strategic position plays an important role as a regional connectivity hub besides domestic and international.
