PLN Batam Denies Data Centres Caused Power Outage
Jakarta — PT PLN Batam has denied claims that data centres caused a power outage in Batam several weeks ago, saying the disruption was the result of a technical fault.
PLN Batam President Director Kwin Fo said the outage began with a technical problem at a substation, not with electricity being drawn by data-centre projects.
“We extend our sincerest apologies to all our customers and the public. From the outset, all PLN Batam teams worked day and night, with the primary focus on restoring the Batam-Bintan electricity system,” he said in an official company statement, quoted on Tuesday (20 October 2026).
The company’s investigation found that the data-centre projects in question are still under construction and preparing for operations. They are not yet receiving commercial power at their planned load capacity, so they did not trigger disruption to the electricity supply system.
“Restoration to Bintan was based purely on technical considerations, not on differences in service priorities. We had to ensure the Batam system was sufficiently stable before transferring power, so as not to trigger another widespread disruption,” Kwin Fo said.
How the outage cascaded
Kwin Fo said an electrical flashover at Sei Harapan substation rapidly spread into a widespread blackout because of an insulation failure. The circuit breaker (CB), which should have cut off and isolated the fault, failed to open as required. As a result, the fault current spread to the main 150-kilovolt (kV) transmission network.
The disruption to the 150 kV transmission network had a severe impact on power-plant reliability. A power plant in the Tanjung Uncang area, supplying 220 megawatts (MW), suddenly tripped off the main electricity system. The loss of such a large amount of supply immediately unbalanced the load on other generating units. This triggered a domino effect, forcing further plants off the grid and causing a widespread total blackout at 06:37 Western Indonesian Time (WIB).
Staged restoration in Batam and Bintan
After the incident, PLN Batam teams immediately inspected the system, isolated the fault and gradually rebuilt the electricity network through a black start.
By 22:00 on Monday, about 60% of customers on Batam Island had regained electricity. Restoration continued until 01:00 on Tuesday (13 October 2026), when power had returned to almost all customers in Batam, although work to restore several generating units was still under way.
On Bintan Island, supply took longer to normalise and was fully restored at 18:30 on Wednesday (14 October 2026) through the submarine cable. Kwin Fo reiterated that the restoration sequence was determined solely by technical stability considerations, not by differences in service priorities.
PLN Batam had to ensure that the Batam system was fully stable and had sufficient reserve capacity before transferring power to Bintan, to prevent another widespread disruption.
Findings concerning wildlife
PLN Batam reported four key findings from its evaluation: wildlife is suspected of having triggered the flashover, although this still requires further verification; tests showed that protection equipment was functioning normally; the electrically charged security fence was inactive at the time of the incident; and CCTV was redirected at 18:43 on Sunday (11 October 2026), so it no longer faced the transformer that experienced the fault.
The evaluation also involved the police, including the Riau Islands Regional Police and the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency. PLN Batam said matters beyond the technical issues had been referred to the authorities for further investigation.
“For matters outside the technical aspects, we are leaving the investigation to the authorities so that the cause of the incident can be established comprehensively,” Kwin Fo said.
Compensation for customers
PLN Batam said customer compensation would follow Riau Islands Governor Regulation No. 22/2017 on service quality standards and costs related to the distribution of electricity by PT Pelayanan Listrik Nasional Batam.
Compensation will be determined through an assessment of Service Quality Level (TMP) indicators and in accordance with the mechanisms set out in the regulation.