BDx Jatiluhur Data Centre Project Halted, Impact on Other Data Centres Uncertain

The BDx data centre project in Jatiluhur, West Java, has been officially suspended because it has not yet met all construction requirements. The West Java Provincial Government also plans to review several licences for other data centre projects within the region.

“A review will be conducted, as several permits were issued by the regency authorities. It is expected that the regency government can be more optimal in field supervision,” said the Head of the West Java Communication and Informatics Department, Adi Komar, to CNBC Indonesia on Wednesday (30/09/2026).

He also confirmed the temporary suspension of the BDx data centre project because its construction requirements are still being processed. This suspension will be lifted once all official permits are issued by the Purwakarta Regency Government.

“That is correct [it is temporarily suspended], until the permits are issued by the Purwakarta Regency Government. There are several permit requirements that are still in process regarding the licences issued by the Purwakarta Regency Government,” said Adi.

Previously, the construction of this data centre sparked controversy among the public. The Governor of West Java, Dedi Mulyadi, along with the West Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), questioned the projected water usage for the project.

Dedi emphasised that water requirements for data centres must be carefully calculated from the outset, rather than being discussed after the facilities are operational. This is crucial to ensure that project operations do not disrupt water allocations for local agricultural needs.

Based on the information obtained, the water requirement for the data centre reaches 384 litres per second (LPS), or equivalent to 0.4 cubic metres per second. At this rate, daily water consumption could reach 33,000 cubic metres, or approximately 33 million litres per day.

This volume of water requirement is also expected to increase gradually, with the initial construction phase estimated at around 6,000 cubic metres per day.

“The water will still be sourced from Jatiluhur, but it will enter the PDAM [Regional Water Utility Company]. This means the water is taken from Jatiluhur, enters the PDAM, and the water is purchased from the PDAM,” said the man affectionately known as KDM, as quoted from detikJabar.

Meanwhile, a member of Commission V of the West Java DPRD, Maulana Yusuf Erwinsyih, believes that the impact of such infrastructure development must be comprehensively calculated in terms of both benefits and risks, given the high level of resource consumption involved.

“The government should disclose the pros and cons of these AI data centres to the public. How are the benefits and what are the losses? Much research has revealed the impacts of AI data centres, ranging from water usage, the potential for certain bacteria in wastewater, noise, carbon emissions, and so on,” he concluded.