Data Center Dynamics, an industry publication, reported that Indonesia is expected to be the world’s third-largest data center market by 2025. The country’s information and communication technology (ICT) market has continuously grown with the Government’s efforts to provide better internet infrastructure and services.
The Government even issued a regulation that requires all government offices and state-owned enterprises to move their data centers to cloud services by 2023. This shows that starting in 2023, the data center industry in Indonesia will experience significant growth, which means it is essential for the country to be ready for that time.
The Important of Reducing Indonesia Carbon Emissions
Global climate change is an issue that is getting more and more attention as time goes on. It is a complex problem, with causes and effects worldwide, but Indonesia has one of the enormous contributions to the problem. The country produces 2.35 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, making it the third-highest carbon dioxide-producing country in the world. This is due in large part to Indonesia’s coal production.
Actually, Indonesia is not in among the top 10 countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions consist of three main sources: energy (60%), industry (25%), and transportation (15%).
One of Indonesia’s most significant sources of greenhouse gases is its use of coal to generate electricity. The country desperately needs an alternative power source, and it’s set to get one with a new carbon tax.
Fortunately, at this moment, many companies are taking steps toward a greener future for Indonesia:
- In 2023, the Government plans to build a new power plant fueled by biomass instead of coal. This will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by 500 megatons per year.
- Some companies are working to increase the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. This helps to reduce carbon emissions because these sources produce less pollution than fossil fuels like coal.
- Some companies are working on technology to convert coal into other energy sources, such as biodiesel or synthetic natural gas, to burn it cleanly while reducing their emissions.
Many data centers worldwide consume massive amounts of electricity, often from non-renewable sources like coal and oil. This creates an environment that’s not sustainable for years to come. Even if Indonesia continues using these sources, they must shift focus as soon as possible.
If they prepare now, they can avoid being overtaken by other countries who are not only offering sustainable options but are also being proactive about making sure their infrastructure is ready for climate change down the road.
In addition to requiring renewable energy, Indonesia has also set a goal to protect its biodiversity. It recognizes that there needs to be a balance between the increased use of renewable energy and the preservation of natural resources. The hope is that this will provide a framework for other countries looking to establish goals around environmental issues. If Indonesia moves forward, it will encourage more companies to use data centers with sustainable practices.
G20 Summit Agreement to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Indonesia’s Government is continuing to reduce carbon emissions, but it still has to continue its efforts to keep up with the world’s ever-growing demand for data centers. The country’s four biggest providers of these centers have been working on plans to help develop the infrastructure and will incorporate green solutions into their designs.
The first step has been to create a list of criteria for what makes an ideal green data center and find ways to meet those requirements.
For example, they want facilities that can be powered using locally produced energy, which means that solar panels or other forms of clean energy will be used only when available at a reasonable cost. Liquid gas generators may also be part of their design as they have 40% to 50% fewer carbon emissions than a high-speed diesel generator.
The Government will begin the development of a roadmap for the transition to sustainable power sources and issue an action plan specific to this industry. Indonesia’s Government has already reached out to Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services for assistance in developing strategies for this transition.
As a first step, one of the state companies has signed a cooperation contract to build a 120 MW solar power plant with Amazon Web Services. This step proves that the Indonesian Government consistently follows up on the agreements at the G20 summit and COP-27 regarding efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
As a next step, the Indonesian Government has planned to close all coal power plants gradually. In addition, a solar power plant with a capacity of 250 MW and a hydroelectric plant with a total of 265 MW.
Indonesia Data Center Provider Organization Release Its White Paper for Green Data Center
Aligned with the Government’s move, the Association of Indonesian Data Center Providers issued a white paper on green data centers and standardization of green data centers in Indonesia. This standard will be ratified by the National Standardization Agency, which means that all Green Data Centers in Indonesia must comply with this standard.
With the existence of the Indonesia Green Data Center white paper, all data centers in Indonesia can more easily transform their data centers into green data centers.
The white paper provides direction on the design and metrics to improve data center efficiency. Indeed, ideally, data centers in Indonesia use renewable energy, but construction takes quite a long time. While waiting for the completion of the renewable generator, the data center can use cleaner electrical energy, such as LNG, with an emission level of 50% from coal. There are still seven years left before 2030 to achieve 50% emissions.
Data Centers in Indonesia are Going to be Green
In line with the country’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 29% in 2030, the Indonesian Government has announced that data centers in Indonesia should be greener starting in 2023. The country’s goal is to have all its data center facilities running on renewable energy sources by 2035.
With all this expansion, though, comes the need for more data centers. The country currently has 66 data centers, 46 based in Jakarta. Indonesia relies heavily on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to support these data centers. The new action plan is designed to power these centers with renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
\While the whole world is talking about clean energy, green technology, and sustainable development, it is crucial for Indonesia to embrace these concepts as well. In the past, data centers generated much heat, which harmed the environment. However, this country is changing with the advent of green data centers.
Data centers have proven that they can be operated without negatively affecting the environment. The next step is to ensure that this type of data center becomes more widespread and that other businesses adopt this concept. This will ensure that the environment stays clean and safe for future generations.
Data centers in Indonesia will be operating with non-fossil fuels by the year 2050. By 2030, 50% of all data centers in Indonesia should be using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
Indonesia Green Data Center Revolution, Start From Jakarta
We can define a green data center as those that take advantage of new technologies, such as cloud computing and virtualization, which allow them to minimize power consumption while still providing high-performance levels. This is important because many existing data centers are inefficient, consuming more than twice as much electricity as they need to support their operations.
Greater Jakarta, home to 10 million people, is one of the most energy-hungry cities in the world, and with its surging growth, it’s only getting worse. The city is set to add another 5 million people by 2030, making the need to improve energy efficiency even more urgent.
Jakarta, the hub of Indonesia’s telecommunication network, serves more than 200 million internet users daily. 39 providers are running 48 data centers with a more than 350 MW capacity. Currently, almost all data centers in Indonesia use electricity, the energy source of which is coal, and backup generators use diesel fuel.
Several data centers in Indonesia have used gas supplies from the state electricity company. This method has reduced 50% of the data center’s carbon footprint. Based on our research, by 2023, there will be at least ten new green data centers in Indonesia.
With the presence of GreenexDC, Jakarta will have more environmentally friendly data centers. In addition, technology giants such as Google, Amazon, and Azure have also committed to using more environmentally friendly electricity. In 2023 data centers in Indonesia will be more environmentally friendly.
Conclusion
Intending to develop the country’s digital economy, the Government of Indonesia has been aggressively building data centers across the country. These data centers, basically large warehouses filled with computers and other equipment, consume much energy because they often run 24 hours a day and use many electronic devices simultaneously.
The buildup of all this data and infrastructure will have an environmental impact. The good news is that Indonesia has taken steps to address this issue. The Government of Indonesia has been trying to improve the country’s green data center revolution as much as possible, and the solution to this challenge can be found the examples in Jakarta.
Nevertheless, there have been many discussions about green data centers and how they can help address some of these issues related to energy consumption and sustainability. This year there was a significant movement toward building more green data centers across Indonesia.