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Data centres are becoming an increasingly important part of the EU’s energy system, already accounting for around 3% of electricity demand, with further growth expected as cloud computing and artificial intelligence continue to expand.
Against this backdrop, this report provides a concise overview of the current state of energy efficiency in data centres. It brings together insights from EU policy frameworks, research and technological developments, as well as best practices and findings from a targeted survey of organisations operating their own data centres.
As digital transformation accelerates, data centres play a central role in supporting everyday services and critical infrastructure, placing greater focus on their energy use, environmental impact and operational resilience. In line with the EU’s climate neutrality ambitions, the sector is under increasing pressure to deliver not only reliable performance, but also measurable improvements in sustainability.
The report explores both current approaches and emerging solutions, offering an overview of sustainable data centre operations across Europe. It also provides practical, evidence-based recommendations to support more energy-efficient and environmentally responsible data centre management in line with evolving policy and technological developments.
