Compare data center regulation

Reduced accise rate on the electricity a data centre consumes above 1 GWh/yr, conditional on an ISO 50001 energy-management system (with further relief for electro-intensive sites).

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Lowers the cost of building or running a data center here (tax breaks, cheaper power, grants). A siting incentive: pulls investment in rather than constraining it.

L.236-1: installed server-room power ≥500 kW → transmit administrative, environmental and energy data to the EU platform and make it public. L.236-2: ≥1 MW → valorise waste heat (derogations by decree). L.236-3: formal notice of at most 1 year, then an administrative fine of at most €50,000 per data centre. Created by loi n° 2025-391 of 30 Apr 2025; most provisions in force 1 Oct 2025.

A site with ≥500 kW of server-room power must publish its energy and environmental data; from 1 MW it must reuse its waste heat, with fines of up to €50,000 per data centre for non-compliance.

Declaration within 2 months of commissioning; administrative, environmental and energy information for the previous year by 15 May each year; deemed to valorise waste heat if ERF (Annex III of Delegated Reg. 2024/1364) ≥ 0.20, with a cost-benefit/derogation route for sites where it is not attainable. In force 1 Jan 2026.

A new site must be declared within 2 months of commissioning and report every year by 15 May; it only counts as reusing waste heat if its ERF is at least 0.20.

Amends art. 167 of loi de finances 2021: criteria go from seven to nine (valorise waste heat, e.g. via a heating/cooling network, or meet a numeric efficiency indicator set by decree; and meet a cooling-water indicator set by decree). A Senate report of Feb 2026 still called for the implementing decree.

To keep the reduced electricity excise rate, a data centre will have to reuse its waste heat or meet a decree-set efficiency indicator, and meet a cooling-water indicator.

Qualification by decree where the project's purpose and scale (investment, installed power) matter for the digital or ecological transition or national sovereignty; effect limited to a State-led planning-compatibility procedure. ZAN exemption censured (Décision 2026-903 DC, 21 May 2026). Law of 26 May 2026.

A large data centre can be designated a project of major national interest by decree, letting the State align local planning documents with it; it does not by itself grant an environmental derogation.

Revenue ≥ €10M or installed IT power ≥ 100 kW (reduced set for 100–500 kW operators under €10M); energy by use, water withdrawals, artificialised land, refrigerant emissions and GHG for the previous year, due 31 March. Replaces Décision 2023-2488; published in the JO on 14 Mar 2025.

Operators with French revenue ≥ €10M or IT power ≥ 100 kW must report energy, water, land take, refrigerants and GHG data to Arcep by 31 March each year.

63 identified sites; 'Guide pour l'implantation de centres de données' (Nov 2025); support via DREETS, regional development agencies and prefectures.

Developers can target 63 pre-identified sites and get support from prefectures, DREETS and regional development agencies; ADEME can co-fund heat recovery.

5 fast-track sites (4 allocated to operators meeting technical and financial requirements); shared zones of about 1,200 MW (south Île-de-France) and 500 MW (Marseille area); procedure approved by CRE.

Fast-track sites next to the 400 kV grid and shared connection zones (~1,200 MW south of Île-de-France, ~500 MW near Marseille) shorten connection times and pool network costs.

Existing DCs PUE ≤1.5 from 1 Jul 2027, ≤1.3 from 1 Jul 2030; new-build (from 1 Jul 2026) ≤1.2 within two years.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Sets efficiency rules a data center must meet, e.g. a PUE ceiling or mandatory KPI reporting. Can force cooling/design changes and rule out inefficient builds.

Implement ISO 50001 or EMAS by mid-2025.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Sets efficiency rules a data center must meet, e.g. a PUE ceiling or mandatory KPI reporting. Can force cooling/design changes and rule out inefficient builds.

Min reused-energy share for new DCs: ≥10% (from Jul 2026), ≥15% (2027), ≥20% (2028).

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Obliges the facility to reuse its waste heat or limit cooling-water use. Shapes site design and can steer siting toward heat-offtake or water-rich locations.

Annual reporting of energy, PUE, waste-heat use, renewable share.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Sets efficiency rules a data center must meet, e.g. a PUE ceiling or mandatory KPI reporting. Can force cooling/design changes and rule out inefficient builds.

50% renewable from 1 Jan 2024; 100% from 1 Jan 2027.

Requires a share of renewable / carbon-free electricity. Affects power sourcing, PPAs and run-cost, and can gate approval of new load.

Applies to data-centre operators serving third parties; yearly per-customer energy statement from 1 Jan 2024.

Colocation/hosting operators must give each customer an annual statement of the energy consumption attributable to them.

Companies whose average final energy use over the last 3 years exceeds 2.5 GWh; excludes installations already covered by BImSchG permits with more specific rules.

A data centre using more than 2.5 GWh/yr must avoid waste heat to the state of the art and reuse it where technically and economically reasonable.

Companies >2.5 GWh average annual final energy use; annual submission by 31 March; updates when things change; security exceptions apply.

Data centres above 2.5 GWh/yr must report their waste heat to the federal platform every year and answer data requests from heat-network operators.

Deliberation of 20 Oct 2023 'Stratégie municipale pour une implantation planifiée et régulée des câbles sous-marins et des data centers'; criteria: already artificialised, polluted or disused land; land and marine biodiversity; link with renewable production and heat recovery; local employment; architectural quality. A consultative commission reviews projects; the city states it has no decision power over subsea cables.

Projects in Marseille are assessed by a municipal consultative commission against siting criteria (brownfield or already-artificialised land, biodiversity, renewables and heat recovery, local jobs, urban integration); the criteria are not binding, as planning powers sit with the Métropole.

DC siting restricted to designated areas; waste-heat utilisation concept required in approvals.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Restricts where data centers may be built. Can bar new sites outright or confine them to designated zones, directly limiting where capacity can land.