Compare data center regulation

Hyperscale DCs (>10 ha, ≥70 MW) only at designated sites (Het Hogeland; Agriport A7 Hollands Kroon); prohibited elsewhere.

Hyperscale sites (>10 ha and ≥70 MW) are banned everywhere in the Netherlands except designated locations in Het Hogeland and Hollands Kroon; municipal environment plans may not allow them elsewhere.

Ban on permits for hyperscale DC (>10 ha AND ≥70 MW) except Hollands Kroon & Het Hogeland.

Historic: for nine months from 16 Feb 2022 no permits were issued for hyperscale sites (>10 ha and ≥70 MW) outside Hollands Kroon and Het Hogeland. Now lifted; see the national spatial rule.

Plan for residual-heat reuse and limit/justify cooling water use as a siting/permit condition.

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.

Art. 3.235 designation; art. 3.236 permit for cooling-water discharge with heat load >50 MW; art. 3.237 general rules (§4.110 cooling water, §5.4.1 energy saving, §5.4.1a disclosure); art. 3.238 notification ≥4 weeks before start.

Operators must notify the competent authority at least 4 weeks before starting operations, and need an environmental permit to discharge cooling water with a heat load above 50 MW into surface water.

Duty applies to sites using ≥50,000 kWh electricity or ≥25,000 m³ gas-eq/yr; reporting every 4 years. Data-centre measures PH1 (room-cooler setpoint ≥27 °C, the ASHRAE upper limit, with compression or wet cooling; lower allowed with 100% dry free cooling), PH2 (frequency control on room coolers), PH3 (free cooling).

Data centres above the energy-saving-duty thresholds must carry out the listed data-centre measures (e.g. server-room cooling setpoint of at least 27 °C, VSDs on CRAH units, free cooling) or show equivalent savings.

Installed IT power ≥500 kW; first publication by 15 Jul 2024, then yearly by 15 May for the previous calendar year (installed power, floor area, energy use, efficiency KPIs, temperature setpoints, renewable share, data traffic and storage). Defence and disaster-relief data centres exempt.

A data centre with at least 500 kW installed IT power must publish its energy-efficiency data every year by 15 May through an electronic facility (first deadline 15 July 2024).

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.

Temporary slowdown and stricter selection; flexible, temporarily disconnectable connections remain possible. No MW cap, end date or regulatory approval confirmed.

New data-centre connections to the Belgian transmission grid face stricter selection and may only be offered as flexible connections that can be temporarily interrupted.

Streamlined planning, grid-connection priority and public support for data centres in designated AI Growth Zones (first at Culham).

Eases siting rather than restricting it: projects inside a designated AI Growth Zone get faster planning and priority grid access.

Up to ~92% discount on the CCL on electricity (and ~86-89% on gas) for data centres meeting agreed energy-efficiency targets.

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.

Enhanced government protection/coordination and prioritised resilience/incident support for designated data centres.

Brings data centres under government resilience and security coordination as critical infrastructure. It sets no siting, efficiency or data-localisation rule.

New DCs must provide on-site generation/storage matching max import demand + market participation, and source ≥80% annual electricity from additional Irish renewables; system operators publish procedures by 31 Mar 2026.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Controls whether: and how fast: a data center can get grid power. Can delay, cap or block new capacity, and may force on-site generation or demand commitments.

New connections in constrained regions (Dublin) deferred; on-site dispatchable generation/storage + demand flexibility expected.

Typical effect of this kind of measure: Controls whether: and how fast: a data center can get grid power. Can delay, cap or block new capacity, and may force on-site generation or demand commitments.

Prioritises DCs demonstrating flexible demand, on-site generation, efficient resource use, decarbonisation.

Signals which projects the state will favour: sites offering flexible demand, on-site generation, efficient resource use and decarbonisation, in locations with grid and renewable capacity.

17 actions; green energy parks developed privately and possibly state-led; does not stop data centres outside these locations before or after 2030.

Very large projects such as hyperscale data centres are steered toward plan-led 'green energy parks' next to renewable supply (including offshore wind). Development outside these parks remains possible under existing planning rules.

New/expanding DCs confined to designated areas; conditions on efficient PUE, renewable electricity, residual-heat use, productive roofs.

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.

Applies to data centres >2,000 m² gross floor area and >5 MVA connection (the strategy notes this 'and' is being changed to 'and/or'); only in the 'datacenter clustering allowed' areas; the guideline cites OVNH2022 art. 6.2.2.6a.

New data centres over 2,000 m² GFA and over 5 MVA are only allowed inside designated clusters in Amsterdam, Haarlemmermeer and Hollands Kroon, with urban-design and image-quality plans and the sustainability conditions applied.

Period 2025-2027; no new hyperscale initiatives; strategy dated January 2025.

No new hyperscale data-centre initiative will be allowed anywhere in Noord-Holland during 2025-2027, including Hollands Kroon.

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.

≥500 kW installed IT; annual KPIs (energy, power, water, waste heat, renewables, temperature setpoints, traffic) due 15 May for the previous year, first cycle 15 May 2024; defence, police and civil protection exempt.

Flemish data centres with ≥500 kW installed IT power must report energy, water, waste-heat reuse, renewable share and other KPIs via ReportENER by 15 May every year.

Policy commitment only; no legal text yet.

Flanders intends to require a study of useful waste-heat valorisation when a new data centre is sited; expect a heat-reuse assessment in future permitting.

≥500 kW installed power demand; first report before 15 Sep 2024, then yearly before 15 May.

Walloon data centres with ≥500 kW installed power must report yearly through the European platform by 15 May, with the SPW as competent administration.

EDE7 Obj.1 locate outside the M50 as far as possible; Obj.2 show energy efficiency, maximise on-site renewables toward 100% renewable (else evidence of Irish PPAs), sufficient water/wastewater/electricity capacity, district-heat measures where excess heat is produced, and CNDCP sign-up; Obj.3 biodiversity/landscaping.

Data-centre applications in South Dublin should sit outside the M50 where possible. They must demonstrate renewable supply (on-site generation plus Irish PPAs), grid and water capacity, provision for district heating, and sign-up to the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact.