The EU Commission is proposing a common rating scheme for Europe’s data centres aiming to increase transparency on their energy use and supporting their sustainable integration into Europe’s energy system.
Data centres are one of the world’s fastest growing sectors, consuming around 68 TWh of the EU’s electricity in 2024 alone. Driven by artificial intelligence, this is expected to virtually double to 114 TWh by 2030 – reaching more than 3% of overall electricity demand in the EU, according to the International Energy Agency.
Data centres are though seen as essential to Europe’s digital future. Increasing computing capacity in Europe is important for strengthening Europe’s technological independence and digital sovereignty. The EU wants to triple its data centre capacity over the next five to seven years. In addition to using more energy, an increase of data centres could put extra pressure on electricity grids and the use of natural resources, such as water, and contribute to increase carbon emissions. To limit these impacts, data centres need to be energy- and water-efficient and sustainably integrated in the energy system.
With the common rating scheme proposed today, the Commission wants to enable transparent information about the actual use of resources (energy, water) by data centres. The rating scheme will cover individual data centres with a capacity above 500 kW. It will also cover data centres’ contribution to the grid, such as the reuse of waste heat, the addition of clean energy generation capacities as well as flexibility. A striking example: reusing around half of all waste heat from European data centres is the equivalent of the total heating demand of 4 million households in Europe. Sustainable, flexible and well-designed data centres that can adjust their electricity use to the grids conditions, can help lower the overall cost of the electricity system, improve grid stability, and integrate more renewable energy.
To create lead markets for sustainable digital assets and services across Europe and further support the integration of sustainable data centres in the energy system, the Commission has launched a call for evidence and public consultation on minimum performance standards for data centres operating in Europe.
The Delegated Regulation establishing the common rating scheme is now subject to 2-month scrutiny period by the European Parliament and the Council before entering into force.
Report on the energy efficiency of data centres in the EU – Energy
Energy Efficiency of Data Centres Report
Questions and answers on the data centre energy efficiency package
