The European Commission (EC) is preparing to launch a series of new measures focused on reducing energy consumption at data centers across the EU.

EU energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen announced the upcoming proposal at the International Energy Agency’s Global Energy Efficiency Conference in Brussels last Thursday (12 June).

Specifics on the new measures are limited but reflect a growing concern within the bloc over the increasing impact that data centers are having on the environment and infrastructure. At present, it’s estimated that around 3 percent of total electricity consumption in the EU is from data centers, with the figure set to double in the next five years according to the IEA.

The measures are expected to come into force in 2026, with further details likely to be announced before then.

Several countries in the EU have already enacted restrictions on new data center builds due to the sector’s outsized impact on the grid. This is most evident in Ireland, where around 20 percent of electricity is consumed by the market, which prompted a defacto moratorium on new data centers in the Dublin area.

While the statement was short on detail, the new measures will likely require significant collaboration across national regulators, energy supplies, and tech companies wishing to build data centers across the bloc. The EC has previously outlined a vision for climate-neutral, highly energy-efficient data centrers by 2030, included in its Digital Compass initiative.

In 2023, the EU published the Energy Efficiency Directive. This aims to reduce energy consumption across the board, and mandates data centers operating in the bloc to report their energy performance into a European data base, as of 15 May 2024.