Data center policies in the EU

As data centers are projected to account for more than 3% of the European Union's (EU) total electricity demand by 2030, the EU is developing a sustainability rating scheme for data centers under the recently revised Energy Efficiency Directive.

With the technologies available today, the data center sector can continue to grow in the age of AI, while at the same time save energy, for themselves and other externally, and comply with the new regulatory requirements in the EED. Danfoss can support data center operators and owners in this transition.

What is new under the revised Energy Efficiency Directive

Reporting requirements

Data centers with IT power demand of or greater than 500 kW must report annually the data on their energy performance and the key sustainability indicators Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), Energy Reuse Factor (ERF) and Renewable Energy Factor (REF).

Heat Recovery

- - - - Data centers with IT power demand of > 1 MW should follow the best practices in the most recent version of the European Code of Conduct on Data Centre Energy Efficiency, such as the recovery of excess heat and the location of data centers where excess heat can be reused.
      - Data centers with IT power demand > 1MW shall utilize the excess heat or other excess heat recovery applications where technically and economically feasible.
      - Member States shall also ensure regional and local authorities develop local heating and cooling plans for municipalities with populations exceeding 45,000. These plans must be grounded in comprehensive national heating and cooling assessments and focus on enhancing energy efficiency, including via the recovery of waste heat. This presents a significant opportunity for data centers situated near communities, where excess heat can be effectively utilized for productive purposes.

Upcoming policy developments

- - - - With the goal to establish a sustainability rating scheme, the European Commission will, based on the data reported, assess the feasibility of introducing minimum performance standards and the transition towards net-zero emission data centers.
      - References - legal texts:

- - - - Directive - 2023/1791 - EN - EUR-Lex (Energy Efficiency Directive recast), in particular articles 12, , 25.6, 26.6, 33.3 and Annex VII.
        
        Delegated regulation - EU - 2024/1364 - EN - EUR-Lex (first phase of the establishment of a common Union rating scheme for data centres)
      - EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, renewed the EU’s energy efficiency pledge at the IEA Conference in Brussels on 13 June 2025. Forthcoming initiatives include a Data Center Energy Efficiency Package, to be published together with the Startegy Roadmap on Digitalisation and AI (Q1 2026), an Electrification Strategy and Heating and Cooling Strategy, which will place greater emphasis on excess heat.
        
        New impetus for energy efficiency - European Commission

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