Proposal for a Unified Rating System for Data Centres
The European Commission has put forward a proposal to establish a unified rating system for large data centres, mandating these facilities to disclose their actual water and electricity consumption. This initiative comes in response to anticipated growth in this infrastructure within the European Union, which is projected to triple by 2035 due to the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) and the region’s efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers.
Teresa Ribera, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition, emphasised that “tripling the capacity of our data centres cannot mean tripling the pressure on our networks, our water supply, and our energy bills. This starts with transparency, rating large data centres based on their impact on our energy system.”
The proposed scheme will apply to data centres with a capacity exceeding 500 kilowatts and will assess not only their consumption of water and electricity but also their contributions to the optimal functioning of the European Union’s electricity grid.
Key Evaluation Criteria for Data Centres
Among the criteria for evaluation are aspects such as the reuse of waste heat, the integration of clean energy generation capabilities, and the flexibility to adjust electricity consumption according to grid conditions. The Commission states that “sustainable, flexible, and well-designed data centres that can adjust their electricity usage to grid conditions can help reduce the total cost of the electricity system, improve grid stability, and integrate more renewable energy.”
For instance, the Commission highlights that reusing approximately half of the waste heat generated by data centres located in the EU could meet the heating needs of around 4 million homes across the bloc.
The rating system has been established through a Delegated Regulation, which will now undergo a two-month review by the European Parliament and Council before the initiative is implemented. The first sustainability badges for individual data centres are expected to be awarded within the next year, with the programme’s first review scheduled for late 2028.
Aiming for Sustainable Energy Consumption
The objective of this programme is to prevent the increasing energy consumption associated with the operation of a growing number of data centres from adversely affecting the regional electricity grid and driving up costs for residents of the bloc. Current consumption figures justify this measure; the Commission reports that in 2024, data centres consumed approximately 68 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in the EU. With the advancement of AI, this figure is projected to rise to 114 TWh at the beginning of the next decade, potentially accounting for over 3% of the bloc’s total electricity demand in the coming years.
Dan Jørgensen, the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, concludes that “to ensure that the digital transformation truly benefits our society, we must address the growing energy demand from data centres. Understanding their energy and resource consumption is the first essential step to integrating them sustainably into our energy system. Digital sovereignty must go hand in hand with energy responsibility.”