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Under the proposed rating scheme, individual data centers with capacity above 500 kW will be covered
In sum – what to know
EU targets transparency – The proposed rating scheme will provide information on data centers’ energy and water use and their contribution to the electricity system.
Sustainability expands – The framework will cover waste-heat reuse, clean-energy generation and flexibility alongside resource consumption.
Labels arrive in 2027 – The first sustainability labels for individual data centers are expected to be displayed next year, subject to the required scrutiny period.
The European Commission has proposed a common rating scheme for data centers designed to increase transparency around their energy and water use and support their integration into Europe’s energy system.
The initiative comes as the European Union seeks to triple its data center capacity over the next five to seven years. The Commission said expanding computing capacity is important for strengthening Europe’s technological independence and digital sovereignty, but also brings increased energy consumption and additional pressure on electricity grids and natural resources such as water.
Under the proposed rating scheme, individual data centers with capacity above 500 kW will be covered. The framework will provide transparent information about their actual resource use and will also consider how facilities contribute to the electricity system.
This includes the reuse of waste heat, the addition of clean-energy generation capacity, and flexibility in electricity consumption. The Commission said sustainable and flexible data centers that can adjust their electricity use to grid conditions could help reduce overall electricity-system costs, improve grid stability, and support the integration of renewable energy.
The Commission highlighted the potential scale of waste-heat reuse. It said that reusing around half of all waste heat from European data centers would be equivalent to the total heating demand of 4 million households in Europe.
Alongside the rating scheme, the Commission has launched a call for evidence and public consultation on minimum performance standards for data centers operating in Europe. The initiative is intended to support the development of sustainable digital assets and services and further integrate data centers into the energy system.
The delegated regulation establishing the common rating scheme is now subject to a two-month scrutiny period by the European Parliament and the Council before it can enter into force.
The first sustainability labels for individual data centers are expected to be displayed in 2027. The Commission plans a first review of the scheme by the end of 2028 to assess its effectiveness and identify possible improvements.
The Commission is also continuing work with data center operators, grid operators, energy providers and public authorities toward a tripartite agreement on data centers during the second half of 2026. The consultation on minimum energy performance standards is scheduled to close on December 14, 2026.
The body said EU data centers consumed around 68 TWh of electricity in 2024. Driven by artificial intelligence, consumption is expected to almost double to 114 TWh by 2030, representing more than 3% of overall EU electricity demand, according to the International Energy Agency.
The rating initiative builds on the EU’s existing data center reporting framework and the bloc’s digital strategy, which calls for greater transparency around the environmental footprint of data centers.
The Commission’s initiative comes as Europe’s data center market continues to expand and AI is also changing where new capacity is being developed. JLL recently said in a report that the combined Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin markets reached 3.8GW of live capacity in the first half of 2026, with another 453MW forecast for delivery by the end of the year. If achieved, annual deliveries would almost triple 2020 volumes.
JLL also found that greenfield developments account for 39% of the 2026–2028 pipeline, compared with 8% over the previous three years. Hyperscale greenfield campuses average 175 kilometers from a hub city, up from 46 kilometers previously, reflecting the power and land requirements of AI infrastructure.
The JLL findings also point to a growing split between established and emerging locations. Enterprise workloads remain in primary markets, while AI training infrastructure is increasingly moving toward secondary markets and the Nordics.
