EU datacenter green scorecard finally escapes Brussels

Brussels has adopted its long-awaited sustainability rating scheme for energy-guzzling datacenters, with minimum performance standards potentially next.

The European Commission this week unveiled its Data Centre Energy Efficiency Package.

It includes a common EU rating scheme and electronic label intended to make facilities' environmental performance easier to compare.

A separate 12-week consultation asks whether minimum standards should be introduced to phase out the least efficient technologies.

The scheme will cover individual datacenters with a power demand above 500 kW.

Their electronic labels will draw on sustainability data operators already report under the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive, including energy and water use, waste heat reuse, clean energy, and interaction with the electricity grid.

The first labels are expected to appear in 2027.

If this all sounds familiar, that's because Brussels has been trying to get the scheme over the line for some time.

The Commission's original plans for an A-to-G rating system were delayed after industry criticism.

Moody's warned at the time that the eventual grades could have implications beyond embarrassing operators with a lousy score, potentially affecting financing and collateral requirements.

A month later, reports emerged that Brussels was watering down parts of the proposal following lobbying from datacenter operators and tech giants.

One contentious provision would have required clean-energy certificates used to offset emissions to come from the same region as the datacenter.

The revised draft instead allowed operators to source them from renewable projects elsewhere in the EU.

The package reflects a tension in EU policy.