The Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has launched a draft royal decree to require data centers to publish information on their energy and water consumption, in addition to other key sustainability indicators.

According to the draft regulation submitted for public consultation, facilities with a connected power equal to or greater than 500kW must submit annual data on their consumption of electricity and potable water, the origin of the energy used (including the percentage of renewables), the type of refrigerants used, the efficiency in the use of resources, and the reuse of waste heat whenever technically and economically feasible.

“[…] This royal decree establishes the obligation to report a series of indicators that seek to guide the deployment of data centers towards projects that maximize the positive impacts on the territory, while minimizing the associated negative externalities,” the text reads.

For data centers with energy input greater than 1MW, the decree also imposes a requirement for a waste heat utilization plan. This must be endorsed by the corresponding regional authority before starting construction.

The text also details measures for large-scale data centers, above 100MW, that will be asked to accredit “the best practices of the sector” and to be within the 15 percent of facilities with the best performance for energy, water use, and sustainable practices.

In addition, the royal decree will incorporate obligations of a socioeconomic nature, with data center developers required to report on the direct and indirect employment generated through their projects, their qualifications, contributions to territorial cohesion, and impact on the local and national economy.

“We are talking about a sector with very important growth plans in our country, and that is why it is essential that we have reliable data on energy consumption, water consumption, or other types of impacts on the territory,” said the Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard.

The new regulation is aligned with a European directive that imposes obligations on member states to require data centers to report key indicators of energy efficiency, water use, and heat reuse.

Once the royal decree is in force, operators will have to publish this information annually on the MITECO website.

The move is part of the European Union’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), with this decree the local implementation of that regulation. The EED was first announced in 2023, with the aim of adding transparency around the energy use of data centers. Germany has implemented the act locally.