As data centre development continues to accelerate across Europe, the EU has announced plans to enforce a sustainability label for the sector as part of the Data Centre Energy Efficiency Package due to be published in early 2026.
The label will include information on the energy and water use of data centres as well as the use of renewable energy sources. It is also likely to introduce minimum performance standards for new and existing data centres, focusing on power usage, renewable energy, water usage and energy reuse.
The European Commission’s directorate-general for Energy led by commissioner Dan Jørgensen stated: “In the context of our efforts to use energy more efficiently, the rising energy consumption of data centres is certainly challenging.
“The challenge presented by data centres is not confined to their growing appetite for energy. They also have a substantial environmental and climate impact. One factor here is the large quantities of water they need for cooling purposes. Another is CO2 emissions, if the sources of power they use to operate are not decarbonised.”
According to the International Energy Agency, data centres are responsible for about 1.5% of the world’s total yearly electricity consumption. This has grown by 12% per year over the last 5 years and it is expected to more than double by 2030.
According to Natalie Kopplow, senior associate energy and energy transition at international law firm Osborne Clarke, the European Commission’s data centre efforts are similar to approaches already employed by the EU to promote energy efficiency and decarbonisation in the broader real estate sector, in the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
While the European Commission has a mandate in the EU Energy Efficiency Directive to pass delegated acts and establish a common EU scheme for rating the sustainability of data centres, any proposals for mandatory use of such ratings and/or minimum performance standards will have to undergo the formal legislative process, adds Kopplow.
“There is currently stronger pushback from Member States against additional bureaucracy, which may also impact the legislative process for the data centre energy efficiency package,” Kopplow said.
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